


Strangers Turned Into Lovers

by AGirlWithPicturesInHerMind



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Wayhaught endgame, some crazy murderer violence things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-10-17 11:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10593384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AGirlWithPicturesInHerMind/pseuds/AGirlWithPicturesInHerMind
Summary: Waverly and Nicole, like I say in the title, are strangers turned into lovers. However, their relationship isn't your usual relationship as they encounter things not many have encountered before..Tagged Wynonna/Doc, but they make small appearances. As do Dolls, Bobo Del Rey, and others. Enjoy!





	1. You're In My Spot

**Author's Note:**

> Before anything, I'm making this exact fic Sanvers too, if you'd rather read that. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy :-)

Nicole was sitting hidden away on the worn out orange couch in the corner of the coffee shop, which proclaimed to have the best coffee in the world. Her head too was hidden under the hoodie of the slightly baggy, light grey hoodie that she'd bought earlier that month in Miami.

She stared out into the small crowd in the shop with a blank expression on her face. No one paid attention to her.

Earlier that day, when a waiter brought her her black coffee, she said thanks because that was the kind thing to do, but the waiter noticed something that she didn't. She didn't have any emotion in her voice. It was as blank as her face. She drank the coffee through unconscious actions. Really, she didn't even realize that she'd drank it.

When the place filled up with people coming in for a break from work, she stayed. When it was empty, she stayed. It wasn't until one of the waitresses told her, but not without an expression of worry on her face, that the coffee shop was closing did she realize that the chairs were already flipped upside down on the tables.

She looked out the window into the darkness with disbelief, and then down at her iPhone. It was 10:00pm. She'd arrived at 1:00pm. Where had her day gone? Had she really been there for 9 hours? She glanced at the small black table next to the couch she occupied and saw that they'd taken her cup. Of course, she hadn't noticed.

She apologized to the waitress and proceeded to leave the small coffee shop. The cool air instantly slapped her in the face and she managed to snap out of her trance altogether. She looked around the area looking at the couples and groups of friends who were out this time.

She turned to the direction of home before she decided that she didn't want be there. If she went back, she wouldn't see a living room that was filled with laughter and joy, she'd see loneliness. She wouldn't see a kitchen splattered with pancake mix, she'd see pain. But, worst off all, she wouldn't see blankets that kept her warm in her bedroom. No, she'd see _her_.

She decided instead to keep wandering around and see where she'd up. She walked around trying to think of anything _but_ the day's earlier events. She was actually doing a pretty good job. She thought about her mom and dad before everything happened, she thought about the sky and how little she was compared to the universe, and she thought about her job and how good she was at it.

About 20 minutes later of walking around, she found herself on a bridge, so she walked towards the very middle of it and laid her elbows on the rail. She stared out once again getting lost, not thinking anything, yet think about it all.

She was picturing where the people in the cars were going as they drove by. She figured the young man in the Jeep might be going to meet his partner, maybe the family in the van was coming back from a 2-hour trip from grandma's house, the 2 women who looked to be in their 40's were probably headed to the airport, the dad with this 2 kids were possibly going back home after a late showing of Power Rangers.

Nicole was there for about 20 minutes, listening to the calming noises of cars passing by, the random honks, the rustling of the leaves, when she heard a voice.

"You're in my spot."

Nicole turned around to see which human being had the guts to ruin her terrible, peaceful night.

"Excuse me?" Nicole questioned.

"You're in my spot," the stranger repeated.

Nicole looked down where she was standing. "Oh, you're right. I didn't see the 'owned by' sign," she replied sarcastically. But, it was in a lighthearted tone, not rude. Nicole was never rude to people she didn't know because she never knew what a person could be going through.

The beautiful stranger chuckled at the red-head. "Can I join you?" She politely asked.

"I don't see why not."

The strangers both stood in silence for a few minutes before the brunette spoke up.

"You know, I've been coming to this spot for 11 years now– since I was 19. I was walking around one night debating whether to not I should switch majors. I originally wanted become a doctor before I realized that I wanted to become a teacher. Anyway, I walked and walked until I stopped on this bridge.

I stood right where you're standing and when I looked down at the traffic, I don't know why, but I made my decision right away. After debating for _weeks_ , I decided right then and there that I'd become a teacher.

Ever since that day, this is where I come out to think when I have a big decision to make. I always stand where you're standing, right next to this sign." She pointed at the sign next to Nicole that read _Up to $1,000 fine for throwing trash onto highway_. "I know that when I come here, I will always walk away with my mind made up. Weird, ha?"

"What made you realize that you wanted to become a teacher?"

"My sister. Well, my sister's daughter. My beautiful niece." Her lips turned up while thinking about her. "She was 2 at the time, and she was learning how to count and it was the most adorable thing; watching a child take in all these different topics and having them look so enamored by it. As we grow, we're unimpressed by a lot of things, and teaching kindergarteners reminds me to always see the beauty in everything."

"That's beautiful," Nicole replied down at the shorter girl. Nicole thought about asking this stranger a question or if would be too weird. She decided that she'd already gave her the reason she became a teacher and asked, "Can I ask you what you're trying to decide right now? Or is that too private?"

The brunette thought about it for a moment. She thought that she'd never talk to this stranger ever again, so why not? "I'll tell you if you tell me your name."

Nicole smiled at her, thinking that there wouldn't be any harm in that. "Nicole," She shared. "What about yours?"

The woman smirked. "That wasn't the deal. You tell me your name and I tell you the big decision I have to make." Nicole laughed softly at the tall stranger; she had a point.

"Alright, then. Tell me your big decision, then."

The woman who looked around her own age, 30, got a bit more serious after Nicole said that. She heard her clear her throat and then declare, "Well, I'm debating whether or not I should break up with my girlfriend." The stranger took her eyes away from Nicole, hoping that she wasn't one of those close-minded assholes that didn't approve of ladies lovin' ladies.

Nicole didn't notice. She was too busy thinking about how she could relate to that. She's had to break a couple of girl's hearts in her past and it was never easy to do. "That is a big decision," she started "so, if you want me to go somewhere else, I will. I don't want to intrude on your decision-making time."

"Oh, no." The stranger intercepted immediately, but not before breathing out a sigh of relief because Nicole didn't judge her. "I promise you're not bothering me or deterring me in any way from making this choice."

Nicole smiled faintly. "Okay, then. In that case, I'll switch you spots. Take your 'decision-making spot' back if you think it'll help."

The stranger grinned widely at that. She liked the red-head. "I'll take you up on that." The girls proceeded to switch spots and both stood in the same position, arms against the rails and legs crossed.

Both women stared out for another 15 minutes thinking about their own lives. Then, this time, curiosity got the best of the brunette. She'd taken a quick glance at Nicole and saw that the taller girl looked like someone had picked up all of her flaws and threw them back at her, reminding her that she wasn't worthy of anything.

"How about we do a little switch on the deal?" The stranger asked Nicole. "You tell me why you're here all by your lonesome where anything bad could happen at any moment, and I tell you my name."

"First of all, I'm a detective. I fear no one." The woman looked impressed. "Second," she began with a small smile, "unfortunately, I'm not ready to open up just yet."

The shorter girl playfully sighed in defeat before speaking. "I understand," she smiled. "I'm Waverly," she said anyway.

"Well, Waverly, it's nice to officially meet you," Nicole grinned, but her eyes still held that same broken look.

Waverly decided she would distract her. Besides, she needed help.

"Will you help me?" Waverly asked.

"Help you?"

"Yeah. Help me decide whether or not I should leave Elise, my girlfriend."

"I can't help you decide that."

"Well, no, but you can give me some advice, right?"

Nicole thought for a second. "Yeah, I guess I can. Well, I actually have these question I ask myself when I find myself in the same position as you. Not, that I find myself in your position all the time. And not that you're position is bad and if you are in that position all the time there's nothing wrong wi–"

"Nicole," Waverly interrupted.

Nicole cleared her throat. "Yeah?"

"Your rambling is cute and all, but I could really use your advice." Nicole blushed madly at that. She apologized softly and began.

"Hmm, let's start with what you love about her."

"Well, Elise is strong. She never backs out of anything because she hates giving up. We were friends for 5 years before we started dating a year ago ago, so there's a lot of wonderful history there. She's beautiful in and out and I... I love her."

Nicole noticed her hesitation with those last few words. "But?"

"But, I'm not _in_ love with her anymore," she admitted. "I don't think I have been for a while now. We just don't share that connection that we used to share, you know?"

"Okay, then. One final question." Nicole stated. "Do you want to fight for her? Do you want to fight for that spark to be reignited once again?"

Waverly stared at her in shock. She hadn't thought about it that way. But, she knew her answer. She felt her heart break, and a tear ran down her face. She guessed that Nicole must've realized what her response was when she felt the woman she'd barely met about 40 minutes ago hug her. Waverly wasn't one to deny hugs, so she wrapped her arms around the taller girl and cried.

Nicole decided to hug the shorter girl because she knew that that question is what would do it for her. She herself never once answered yes to that question.

After about 5 minutes, they separated from the hug.

"Thank you for that," Waverly stated with a sad smile. "Thanks for helping." She announced that she was going to head back home and Nicole said okay. They said their goodbyes, and Waverly was halfway to her car when Nicole called her name.

She turned back around and saw Nicole walking towards her.

"I feel like you're going to be someone special in my life, Waverly. I could use a friend like you." Nicole smiled, teeth and all. "Here's my number," she said as she got to Waverly. "Let's hang out some more, yeah? Maybe in an area with more light next time," she giggled.

Waverly giggled, too. She accepted Nicole's number and walked to her car after a second goodbye. She assumed that she'd never see the stranger again, but now she felt that Nicole was going to be someone special in her life, too.

She got into her car and drove away, but not before taking another glance at the taller girl who was walking back towards them bridge, and smiled a bit.

Meanwhile, Nicole stayed at the bridge for 5 minutes until she realized how lonely it actually was now that she'd been in the presence of a human. She turned around to go back to where she came from, but then decided that she'd looked for a hotel nearby instead. No where in hell was she ready to go back home yet. She wasn't ready to see _her_.


	2. This Must be What a Hangover Feels Like

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy reading :-)

Nicole awoke in the motel she had stayed in last night with a headache and dry mouth. Her plan was originally to stay at a hotel, but the 2 that she checked out were both too expensive. Not that she didn't have the money, but she wasn't going to waste it if she could go with something cheaper.

"God. This must be what a hangover feels like," she mumbled to herself. She'd never know. Nicole didn't drink. Never had, never will. Her father was an alcoholic and when he'd come back from a bar at 2 in the morning, he wouldn't even make it to his bed. He never touched her, though. He never did anything bad to her, but that didn't mean that that made him a good father.

She watched him throw his life away from the age 10, when her mom "passed away," to the day she moved out when she was 19 and had saved up enough money from her 2 jobs at Barnes n Nobles and AMC to get her own apartment. She'd still visit him, but it hurt seeing him that way. She swore to herself at the age of 12 that she'd never touch a drink in her life because she didn't want to end up like her father, and she's kept the promise 18 years later.

Nicole got up from her bed and walked into the bathroom where she filled herself a glass of water to the rim and drank it in 3 gulps.

She looked into the mirror and she groaned at how terrible she looked. She had bags, no _suitcases_ , under her eyes and her hair was disheveled.

She'd only gotten 3 hours of sleep, which even that was surprising to her because she'd spent all night crying into the pillow that was covering her face while her heart pumped in her chest with ache.

She'd been avoiding it most of yesterday, the feelings and emotions. She'd thought about it a bit when she was with Waverly, but not too much. It wasn't until she got to the motel and lied down that the memories of the day came rushing back to her.

She hadn't felt pain like that since her mom "passed away." The heartbreak, the loss of someone so goddamn special. The knowing that things we're never going to be the same again. Not that that was a bad thing, but the bad was all that Nicole could think about right now.

Despite all that, Nicole had to get her head on straight. She was supposed to be getting back to work tomorrow. She had the day off yesterday and today because she'd been in Miami for the past month working.

She took one last glance at herself and turned to get into the shower until she remembered that all of her clothes were at home. Her car and her keys were at home, too. Lucky her.

Despite this, she still didn't want to step into her own apartment. She'd do that later in the day when she was more ready, well as ready as she could be anyway. She walked out of her motel room (with what she did have, her purse, wallet, and cellphone) in her clothes from yesterday after washing her face so she could at least look like a decent human, and walked to the nearest place with clothing which happened to be Target.

She walked into the store and went towards the clothes section and bought herself a pack of men's small white tees, a pair of grey sweatpants, and a pack of underwear. She then went to get some mini-sized travel essentials like shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, a toothbrush and deodorant.

She paid for everything and started to walk out _craving_ that shower when she bumped in to a certain not-so-stranger from last night.

"Oh God, I'm sorry," Nicole began when she looked down and saw the person she spoke to last night. "Oh! Hey, Waverly."

Waverly looked up for a second, recognizing that voice. She didn't look so hot either. Nicole noticed that her eyes were puffy and red and figured that Waverly must've broken up with Elise. Waverly realized that Nicole looked, well, as crappy as her at the moment.

"Guess we both had shitty nights, ha?" Waverly commented.

Nicole smiled sadly. "Yeah, I guess we did." She cleared her throat when she realized they were just staring at each other in Target. "I have to get going. I'm sorry about your, uhh, ex-girlfriend situation," she ended awkwardly.

It was Waverly's turn to smile sadly. "Yeah," she whispered. "We'll talk soon, okay?"

Nicole agreed and left the store to walk back to her motel. She spent the rest of her afternoon feeling the ache and groaning about how stupid life was. She didn't cry anymore, though. She felt like she had dried herself up throughout the night.

Even though tears were no longer shed, her plan to get her head on straight wasn't working so, she had called into the station and asked them if she could have just one more day off because she was still a bit tired. Luckily for her, they agreed easily. Her boss just assumed that her assignment had drained her. Which was understandable, it was a brutal one.

Putting off another day at work didn't do much, though. She'd still have to go back home tonight and encounter _her_.

At around 4, she got a text from an unknown number saying, "Is it soon enough to talk?" Nicole smiled knowing exactly who it was.

"Soon enough couldn't have come at a better time. I'm hungry, wanna get some food and talk in person instead?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Awesome. Let's meet up in Panera's at 4:30?" She got back 3 thumbs up as a reply.

Nicole put down her phone, not realizing that she'd been smiling throughout the whole interaction, and realized that it was time to leave her mini safe-haven. With a sad sigh, she threw the things that she had bought earlier into her bag, and walked to the motel office to give the lady in the front desk her key back.

"You know, you can stay another night, but this time you don't have to be so _lonely_ ," said the young woman in the front desk with a sultry tone.

"Sounds like a good time, but I think it's time for me to go," Nicole replied with a forced smiled. She turned around and left without looking back. The lady behind the desk wore a face of disappointment.

Nicole walked for about 10 minutes to get to the restaurant, arriving at 4:40. She walked into Panera's and looked around for Waverly and finally spotted her sitting at a table in the middle of the place scrolling aimlessly through her phone. She looked a bit better than she did earlier that day, but not too much. Not that she was judging, she knew she wasn't looking so hot either.

She walked up to the brunette and spoke, "Hey, stranger."

"Hey!" Waverly replied getting up to greet Nicole with a hug.

"Thanks for waiting up."

"Nah, it's no problem," Waverly smiled.

"You know, I'm dying for a bowl of broccoli cheddar," Nicole stated still standing. "What would you like? My treat."

"Oh, no, Nicole. I can't let you do that. I don't even know you."

"Then, why are you here?"

That caught Waverly off guard.

"Uhh–I, well, I really don't know," Waverly admitted.

Nicole just grinned down at her. "I'll get you the same as me." When she saw Waverly _not_ decline her offer, she walked up to the cashier and ordered 2 bowls of broccoli chowder with a side of bread and 2 cups for some water.

Nicole walked back to the table with the number 11 in hand and sat down across Waverly.

"Thanks," Waverly smiled.

"Ehh, it was nothing," Nicole waved nonchalantly. "So, how did your day go?"

"Don't act like you can't tell by the look of my ugl–"

" _Beautiful_ face," Nicole cut her off. Waverly blushed at the compliment.

"Well, whatever. You can still tell I had a shit day."

Nicole smiled apologetically. "How'd Elise take it?" She spoke in a softer tone.

"Uh, as okay as you can take a break-up." Waverly giggled humorlessly "She told me that she saw it coming. She knew that our connection wasn't like it used to be, but I mean, it didn't make it any easier. It hurt us both. We did love each other, you know?"

Nicole nodded to indicate that she was listening.

"Me spending the day crying wasn't necessarily because I lost her. It was because even when you love someone, sometimes it doesn't work out and it's so _fucked_. You'd think that God, or whatever, would make things easier on us. If you love someone, you can be together, but nope. That's not always the case."

"No, it's not." Nicole said in a sullen voice. "Even when you love someone, and they love you back, you can still just end up heartbroken."

Waverly's face softened at that same broken look Nicole had on last night on the bridge. "Can I ask you what happened now?"

"I'm sorry. Next time, maybe. I'll tell you this though, this is the worst heartbreak I've ever gone through. I've never felt so empty, yet so _full_ of anger and sadness."

"Well, I'll tell you this– whoever did that to you didn't deserve you in the first place." Now it was Nicole's turn to blush. "It's his lost, Nicole. I barely know you and I already know you're a pretty special person. Especially because you heard out a strangers problems and gave her advice."

Nicole laughed, but then said, "Thanks, Waverly, but you've got me wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not _his_ lost. It's _hers_."

"Oh!" Waverly blushed from embarrassment when she realized that Nicole played for the other team, _her_ team. "Sorry, I didn't realize." But, Waverly wasn't sorry at all. Actually, she was _really_  glad that the beautiful girl in front of her was into girls.

The women's food arrived and while they ate, they decided to go back to high school and play a game of 20 questions in order to learn more about each other. Waverly learned that Nicole was one of the top detectives in the Purgatory Police Department, that her favorite cereal is Cap n' Crunch, and that her favorite book is Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King, which is fitting because it's about a detective trying to figure out who the killer of a mass murder is.

Nicole found out that Waverly has taught kindergarten through 4th grade, but kindergarteners were her favorite and who she's currently teaching. She also found out that her favorite song is Don't Dream It's Over by the Crowded House, and that she's broken both arms, her left twice, and her right once.

They continued to converse after that about anything and everything they could come up with. Their night was filled with laughter and it's exactly what they both needed.

They were there for 2 hours, when Waverly asked Nicole if she wanted dessert. She smiled at the look in Nicole's eyes when the word "dessert" left her mouth. Nicole said, "I _always_ want dessert."

"Good to know." She made a mental note to remember that, just in case.

After convincing Nicole that _she_ was going to pay this time, Waverly ended up getting them both 2 big snickerdoodles.

At 7:00, Nicole knew that she had to go back to her apartment and finally face _her_. It had been in the back of her mind the whole time, but as she looked at her phone to check the time, she knew it was time to go. She was more disappointed than she should be to leave.

Waverly noticed the look in her eyes. "Is it time for you to go?"

Nicole looked up from her iPhone, "Yeah, but um...You don't have to," she said hurriedly, "but, could you possibly maybe give me a ride back home? I don't have my car with me and–"

"Nicole, hey, it's fine." She reached across the table and grabbed her hands when she realized that they were shaking.

Nicole liked it a little too much. "Okay, then. Let's go."

Both girls moved their arms back and walked out of the restaurant side by side. Nicole walked to the passenger side of the car and stepped in.

"So, where do you live?"

Nicole gave her a few directions and off they went. Waverly saw that Nicole's hands were still shaking, so she did what she would do when she was nervous.

"Here. Take my phone. My password is Marvel," she said blushing a bit at what she now realized was an embarrassing password.

"Wow, trusting me with your very adorable password?" Nicole teased. She unlocked the phone, nonetheless. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"Find Spotify and go to my "Untroubled" playlist." Nicole realized what Waverly was doing and she grinned to herself at the sweet gesture. She found the playlist and played the first song on it which happened to be one of her favorites. It was _To Build a Home_ by The Cinematic Orchestra.

Nicole heard the piano in the beginning and was automatically calmed. Waverly noticed the red head's shoulders and face relax and gave herself a pat in the back in her mind for the idea. She saw her smile a little.

"What are you smiling at there, pretty girl?" Nicole blushed a bit because she'd been caught.

"Honestly? I just really love this part of the song. It makes me feel good in some weird way."

Waverly just smiled because she knew exactly what she meant. That was her favorite part too.

The song ended just as Waverly pulled into a parking spot and Nicole's hands started shaking again. Waverly turned off the car and reached for her hands. "Hey, whatever it is that's going to happen in there. You can do it, okay? As far as I can tell, you're a strong and badass Purgatory cop, right?"

Nicole smiled a nervous smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Thank you, Waverly."

Waverly knew that she meant it for more than just giving her a ride. "If you need me, I'm a call away. Okay?" She leaned over and gave Nicole a quick hug, then said goodbye. She was tempted to kiss her cheek, but knew she it wasn't the right moment. It'd only mix them both up.

Nicole whispered goodbye and got out of the vehicle. She walked towards the front of her apartment building and walked in, building up the courage that she needed to finally encounter _her_. She walked into the elevator and up she went.

Neither of them knew it yet, but they both helped heal each other's heart a little bit that night. So little actually that they couldn't tell, but when they'd share their first kiss, they'd realize that they began to do so that very night.


	3. One Step at a Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this chapter, it's twice as long as usual!! 
> 
> There some violence in here, btw. I hope you don't find me crazy, just know that Stephen King is my favorite author and I watch a lot of SVU.
> 
> Happy reading :-)
> 
> P.S. Thanks to those of who comment, ya make me happy

Nicole woke up in an unfamiliar place. The sun was shining down on her face through the small opening of the window beside the bed. She squinted, still half asleep, trying to remember where she was and then it all hit her at once, the memories of last night and...Waverly.

She was in Waverly’s apartment on Waverly’s bed. She turned around hesitantly, afraid of what she might see. She let out a sigh of relief, Waverly was not beside her, that was a good sign.

Nicole looked around the room. It was simple, very ikea-ish and modern, which she loved. Her apartment was like that, too.

She decided to get up and go find Waverly. She walked into a long hallway and passed by pictures of Waverly with a young girl, she assumed it was the one that inspired her to teach, and some pictures with a girl who seemed to be her sister. There was one final picture of Waverly, her sister, and a man she'd never heard of. She was holding the sister's hands though. In the picture, they were all laughing and looking at each other like nothing could ever go wrong. It was lovely.

She continued down the hall and walked into the living room where she finally spotted the woman she was looking for sleeping on the couch. She briefly wondered if the shorter girl had ditched teaching because of her today, considering it was Friday, but she remembered that she'd told her that they were on fall break.

Nicole looked down at her with a small smile.

"You know that the body can sense that someone is staring at them even when we're sleeping?" Waverly spoke alarming Nicole who jumped back while blushing.

"Sorry," Nicole said quietly. Waverly just laughed softly at her.

"It's alright," she replied getting up and stretching. Nicole's eyes traveled to the part of skin that was revealed as she stretched. She cleared her throat and look down. Thankfully Waverly didn't notice.

"You want some breakfast?" As if on cue, Nicole’s stomach started growling and Waverly said, "I'll take that as a yes."

Nicole followed her into the kitchen and sat down on the 4 chair table. She watched Waverly make pancakes, sunny-side up eggs, and a couple pieces of bacon in silence. Then, she was thinking about last night again and blanked out.

She snapped out when some very good looking food was put in front of her. No one said anything yet.

Waverly was giving Nicole space, but not knowing what the hell had happened last night was killing her. There were a million questions floating in her mind. Who broke Nicole's heart? Why'd she leave her own home? Why did she call her last night sobbing, asking her to pick her up?

The poor girl just looked so tired. Waverly didn't want to invade her privacy but–  
  
Nicole interrupted her train of thoughts. "I know you're curious. Just...let me finish eating, yeah?" Waverly laughed softly at the comment and they continued eating.

When both women finished their breakfast, Nicole offered to wash the dishes, but of course Waverly said declined the offer. Once the dishes were washed, they walked into the living room and sat on the couch Waverly was sleeping on earlier.

Nicole sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you everything now. After everything you've done for me, you deserve it. I'll start from the beginning."  
\-----------------  
Nicole was seated on the plane that was taking her back to Purgatory and she was looking out the window beside her thinking about everything she'd gone through that month.

She'd been in Miami for the past month working with the Miami Police department trying to catch a serial killer that was on the loose.

Nicole was one of Purgatory’s top detectives, so they had sent her over to help them out. What was taking them 5 months, Nicole helped them find the killer in 1 month, but even though it was a short period of time, it took a lot out of her.

The serial killer's name is William Yates. He'd started his murder spree in Miami half a year ago. He was evil, for lack of a WORSE word. He was young too– only 20-years-old. William began a victim. He was bullied all throughout high school because he was "too thin" and "nerdy looking." His father beat him regularly for not being "a normal teenage boy," and his mom worked as a prostitute because his family needed the money. Needless to say, that didn't help much with the bullying.

Even though he graduated from high school 2 years ago, life hadn't gotten any better for him. He didn't get accepted to any colleges because his high school grades were crap because of his family situation. He lived with his parents, playing violent video games all day. That's where he first developed his love for "the thrill of the kill," as he called it.

He'd committed 3 murders every month for 6 months and in every crime scene he left a note in the victim's mouth that said "I do this for the thrill of the kill." It was a reminder to the cops that he wasn't just some kid with problems, oh no, he _enjoyed_ the killings, the torturing. He wanted them to know that he wasn't a rookie, that he was not someone to be messed around with.

Anyway, his torture/murder sessions always lasted 3 days. He would always make sure that his bodies were found, but was always careful not to leave behind any evidence, that is until one day. The kid had a schedule, certain things he would do to someone before actually killing them. First, he'd pick a random girl. Always random, and always a female who looked like she was in her 30's.

Why he did that? Ni ole still doesn't know, but he always did. He'd ask a girl who was walking by to help him fix a tire and the girls would always help because who ever asks a girl for help with car stuff? He'd make them feel empowered. When the girl would walk up to the car, he would place a rag soaked in chloroform over their nose to knock them unconscious.

He would then take the woman to an abandoned warehouse. It was such a cliché, but oh how he loved them. It didn't matter if the nearest vacant warehouse was 5 minutes away or 2 hours away, that's where he would take her.

Once there, he'd tie her to a chair in the middle of a big, empty room where her screams would echo, but wouldn't matter because no one was near. Once he tied her up, the clichés ended.

He'd start off by cutting the woman, here and there, with a knife. Sometimes, it was deep and sometimes it wasn't. But, he'd make sure that everyone limb had the chance to feel the pain. After, there was his signature move which Nicole tried to push out of her mind.

But she couldn't. She kept seeing the eyeball lying inside a jar right next to the victim's body.

There was more in between, cruel things that Nicole wanted to forget. Throughout it all though, he made sure that the women wouldn't die after each "torture phase". That was the sickest part. When he hurt them, he'd fix them right up afterwards. He'd stitch a cut on an arm, put on a band-aid when needed, God, he even fed them everyday.

The lieutenant in Miami who filled her in said that the women would be fed a snack a day. They'd known this because there would always be 3 wrappers left behind. A Nature Valley bar wrapper, a Nutri-Grain wrapper, and a Kind wrapper.

All for what? For the big finale, the _kill_. He wanted them to feel pain before their death so that they understood the suffering that he'd gone though. He also wanted them to be wide awake in order for them to know how they would be dying. He couldn't have them fainting midway because they needed food in their system.

It was exciting to him because that's when he'd hand over the power to them, yet still held it all as he stared upon their broken bodies. It excited him watching them end their own lives. It was because of _him_ that they'd do it so eagerly. It made him feel so special. Because in reality, they didn't have a choice. He'd give them an option that wasn't much of an option.

Nicole forced herself to stop thinking more about what happened in Miami and thought about her soon-to-be wife instead. Her pretty, and kind, and most importantly _sare_  fiancé. Their wedding was a month away and she was filled with ecstasy, and excitement, and all the other happy words you could think of.

They had been dating for 3 years before Nicole finally got down on one knee and proposed to her while they were on a date 8 months ago. It wasn't planned, Nicole didn't even have a ring. All she knew was that their love was real and she didn't want to let Sarah go.

Sarah cried and said yes. They both went to get rings for each other separately with their friends the next day. Sarah insisted because she was actually planning on proposing the next week.

Last night, she told Sarah that she'd be coming back on Friday, but wanted to surprise her and come back 2 days earlier. As the plane landed, Nicole got her luggage as fast as possible and hailed a cab to get her home.

The 30-minute ride felt more like 2 hours, but she was finally home. She walked into the building where the greeter welcomed her back and went to the elevator to go up to her apartment on the 10th floor. Nicole walked in while a young couple were looking each other in the eyes with nothing but love, and she got even more excited to see Sarah.

She got to the 10th floor and entered her apartment. She stepped in and saw something right away that she wish she hadn't. Her eyes fell on the clothes on the floor. There were 2 sets of bras lying about.

She froze. She didn't know what to do. Her heart started pumping and she just couldn't move. She wasn't a fool. Looking at the floor and seeing 2 bras, one that _wasn't_  hers, she knew exactly what that meant.

But she didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to walk into her room and confirm her suspicions. She didn't want to see the body that lay next to the woman she was supposed to be marrying. But, she didn't have a choice, did she? She couldn't just leave and never speak to Sarah again, could she?

She walked into the hallway down to her room, as slowly as she could. She kept her head down, not wanting to see what she knew would lie there. On the floor again, she saw 2 sets of underwear. With all her strength, she looked to the bed and saw her gorgeous fiancé bare naked on the bed, covered slightly by a thin sheet.

Then, she looked the the left, to her side of the bed, knowing she'd see some stranger that just had meaningless sex with a woman that deserved more. But, that wasn't the case. In fact, she desperately wished that _that_  would've been the case.

To the left her fiancé, she saw someone she's known for 15 years. Someone that she's shared everything with and to. Her best friend.

She tried to hold it in, she did. But, the shock was too overwhelming. Her best friend and her fiancé. The people she trusted and loved the most in the world, had cheated her. She let out a strangling sob, and literally felt her heart break into a million pieces. It was like it was hit with a hammer, and every piece of her heart just fell to her stomach.

Her hand went over her mouth and she fell to the floor, waking up the women who were lying on the bed. The women woke up instantly, thinking that an intruder had broken in, but then they saw Nicole on the floor crying. They looked at each, heart's pumping.

'No,' thought Sarah 'No, no, no, this can't be fucking happening. She's not supposed to be here. She was supposed to come back on Friday. What the fuck is she doing here?'

Sarah did the only thing she could think of, while Danny, Nicole's best friend, sat in bed with her eyes wide thinking the same thoughts as Sarah who got up from the bed with the sheet wrapped around her and hugged Nicole.

Nicole allowed herself to cry into the arms of her fiancé. They cried together for what felt like hours. Letting everything out, understanding that it was all over. That there would be no marriage, no children, no growing old together. After a while though, Nicole felt the pain be replaced with anger. The fury and feeling of betrayal swallowed her whole as she got up and pushed her fiancé away.

She looked back and forth between Danny and Sarah. "How the fuck could you do this?" She said aggressively. But when Danny went to answer, she put her hand up and said, "No. _Stop_. I don't want to hear it. Not, now. I don't want to hear all about how my best friend and the woman I'm supposed to be marrying next month ended up in bed together."

The women remained silent. After a couple of seconds, Nicole turned and she ran out of her apartment. She ran for 10 minutes, when she arrived at a coffee shop and pushed her feelings so low until she couldn't feel a thing.

\-----------------------

Waverly was... _furious_. She was pissed at this girlfriend of Nicole's. How could she? How could she cheat on this incredible lady right in front of her. Nicole noticed the anger in Waverly’s eyes and then sighed.

"And that's just me finding out that she was cheating on me," says Nicole. "I haven't even told you what happened last night."

"Nicole, you don't have to tell me that right now. Actually, you don't have to me at all. It's none of business," Waverly spoke reassuringly.

"It's okay, Waverly," said Nicole, "I can tell you. I mean, I did run to you instead of my friends of 10 years...." she ended in confusion. Why had she done that?

Waverly smiled at the shorter girl not complaining at all that she'd called her instead.

When Nicole was telling the story, though, she never mentioned that Sarah was her fiancé, she used the word girlfriend instead and for some reason she felt guilty for lying about that part, so she decided to tell Waverly the truth.

"Before I go on, I left out an important part, something that you need to know." Waverly nodded for her to go on.

Nicole dug into her purse and found what she was looking for in the pocket on the left side. She slipped it on without Waverly watching. Then, she removed her hand and help it up for Waverly to see. "We were supposed to get married next month," she spoke softly as her voice cracked.

That hit Waverly right in her heart. "Oh my God," she whispered. She lunged herself forward at Nicole and said, "I'm so sorry, Nicole." This time, Nicole cried in her arms. Waverly’s heart ached for her. Her _fiancé_? She couldn't even _bErin_  to comprehend how someone could do that to the person they're about to marry.

Nicole let go and pulled herself together, wiping the tears off of her face. She still wanted to tell Waverly what went down the night before.

"Nicole, don't--"

"No, I want to, I need to." Waverly nodded.

"Okay," she breathed as Waverly held her hand to let her know that she was there, "Here's what happened last night..."  
\----------------  
Nicole stood in the elevator that was taking her to the 10th floor. She counted each floor she passed obsessively with a shaky voice thinking about why she would always complain about how long it took to get home. Now she thought is was too fast, about how it just had to slow down.

She heard the ding of the elevator arriving to her floor and then entered the hallway with one door. She forced herself to turn the knob and walked into a clean apartment. Sarah always cleaned when she was nervous or when she was feeling like crap, and had to get her mind off of whatever caused that. Their apartment was _spot less_.

"Nicole," whispered her Sarah. Nicole looked to the hallway where her ex-fiancé was standing and her eyes filled with tears again.

"I don't want to hear your apologies. I just, I want to know what you did and why you did it because I need the explanation, I deserve to know what happened."

Sarah nodded solemnly before making a move to sit on the couch. She looked at Nicole expectedly, hoping that she would sit next to her, but she didn't. She stayed by the door, waiting for an explanation.

"After you called me to to tell me that you were going to come back on Friday, I'd gotten a text from Danny asking if I wanted to go out and get some drinks with her. I missed you and I didn't want to be alone that night, so I said yes. After a couple of hours of drinking too much, I guess this Danny and I started flirting a bit," she looked ashamed as she said that.

"Anyway, next thing you know, we're back here and we started kissing a little and… I may have told her that I wanted to have just one last fling before you and I got married. We had established that it would just be meaningless sex and that, umm, you would never find out about it.

I know it doesn't excuse my actions, but I was drunk out of my mind, Nicole. And so was she, we weren't thinking straight. I don't even remember anything. It meant nothing. I just wasn't thinking, you know that I love y–"

"Don't even think about it," Nicole cut her off. "You cheated, Sarah. You fucking cheated on me, with my _best friend_ , and we were supposed to be married next month. _next month_ ," at this moment Nicole started crying. "You're my everything, Sarah. I love you so goddamn much, but you hurt me and you can't take it back. You being drunk excuses nothing. I don't care what you remember or don't, the point is you had sex with someone that WASN’T ME. If you really loved me, you would’ve been okay without a last fling. I would be enough."

"Nicole, please," Sarah begged, "I love you, I do. I'm so sorry, you have to forgive me. I can't lose you."

"Yeah, well. It's a little too late for that. I'm sorry too Sarah. Sorry about the fact that you managed to ruin us. I could forgive you Sarah and move on, but who's to say you won't do it again? What happened to the promise you made me 2 years ago?"

Sarah sobbed, but she looked Nicole straight in the eyes and said, "I'm sorry," with a deep emotion of regret.

"Me too," Nicole spoke solemnly. "You can keep the goddamn apartment. I'll be back tomorrow to pack my things. Please, don't be here when I do."

"Nicole," Sarah whispered one last time.

"Goodbye, Sarah," she ended. She walked out of the apartment and walked into the elevator. She kept herself from crying too much when she was in there, but she couldn't hold it in anymore. She called the first person she could think of.

"Hello?"

"Hey Waverly, you think you could pick me up?" her voice cracked. She wasn't in a condition to be driving.

Waverly heard the crack in Nicole's voice and she automatically got up and went for her keys. "I'm on my way."  
\-----------------------------  
"I've always been the type of person who gives second chances. It doesn't matter how bad it is that someone did something to hurt me, I believe that people make mistakes sometimes and deserve to be forgiven," Nicole shared with Waverly. "That's it, though. 2 chances for big mistakes. After that, you're forgiven, but out of my life. I still forgive because it can't be on my conscious or theirs, but I can't be around that person anymore, you know?"

Waverly nodded in understanding. "You're too good for this world, Nicole," she spoke softly. Nicole's heart skipped a beat. "So, why didn't you give her a second chance?” She asked out of curiosity. If Nicole gave second chances, why not to the woman she loved?

"Because Waverly, that _was_  her second chance." Nicole saw Waverly’s confused expression so she continued on, "That's not the first time she cheated on me. She cheated about 1 year into our relationship, but like I said, I gave her a second chance and I'm still glad I did. The next 2 years of our relationship were wonderful, I wouldn't trade those memories for the world."

"So, it's over?" Nicole nodded sadly. "And what about Danny?"

"She’s one of the people that I trusted most in the world, and she betrayed me the ultimate way you can betray someone. I'm speaking with her tomorrow, but our friendship's over. I can't believe she did it, but she did. I mean, you think you know someone and next thing you know, they're a complete stranger."

"That's life for you, Haught."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Nicole sighed. "Now, I have to tell everyone I invited to the wedding that it's over..." she groaned. "That's going to be hard as shit."

"Hey, one step at a time. You literally just ended it last night, you can focus on that later. How about we get your mind off things, yeah?"

"What do you have in mind?"

Waverly thought for a second. "Well, what every other girl does when she's going through a break-up." She got up and walked to her freezer where she had some of Thrifty's Mint n' Chip ice cream.

"Please tell me you like Mint n' Chip ice cream?" She yelled to Nicole.

"It's actually my favorite," Nicole replied. Waverly whispered YES! to herself. She got the tub of ice cream, grabbed 2 spoons, and also grabbed the whipped cream and chocolate sauce. They could just throw it in. She walked back to Nicole and plopped right next to her, just so that they could share, or so she told herself.

"Where have you been all my life?" Nicole asked dramatically.

"Doesn't matter, you got me now," She smiled a wide smile.

"Cute," Nicole said laughing.

Then, instead of doing the expected thing and putting on a shitty romance movie, she never understood why people did that, she unlocked her phone, connected it to her T.V. and played the first X-Men movie.

"Wow, you really are a Marvel nerd," Nicole said.

"Hey, don't judge! Have you even seen these films?"

Nicole looked down. "No..."

"That's what I thought. Now be quiet and eat ice cream and lose your pretty little self in the movie."

Nicole chuckled, "Yes, sir."

About 10 minutes into the movie Nicole looked over Waverly, and she laughed loudly. "What?" Waverly asked confused.

"Oh my God, do you really not realize what you're doing right now?"

"No?"

"You're mouthing the words!" Nicole exclaimed. Waverly blushed in embarrassment.

"Wow, that's embarrassing. It's actually a bad habit." Nicole just continued laughing at her.

"Well, don't worry, I think it's adorable." Waverly’s face just turned more red.

"Okay, okay, stop talking! Focus on the movie," she commanded jokingly.

"Alright, I'm focused." And she was, for the rest of the movie, which Waverly was going to make fun of her for.

Once the end credits started rolling, Waverly asked excitedly "So, what did you think?"

"Ehh, it was alright."

"HA! Yeah right, don't think I didn't look over at you to see your reactions. Halfway through the movie you were totally gone. I bet you didn't even realize when I got up to go use the bathroom."

"You left?" Nicole said shocked. Damn, she really was enthralled by the movie.

Waverly laughed, "Yup. Now admit it. You enjoyed the nerdy movie." Nicole rolled her eyes jokingly.

"Okay, fine! Yes. I enjoyed the movie! Satisfied?"

Waverly smirked. "Very."

"C'mon, then. What are you waiting for? Put on the second one." Waverly laughed loudly at that, and put the movie on anyway. The laugh made Nicole heart skip a beat.

Half way through X2 Waverly felt something land on her right shoulder. She looked beside her and realized that Nicole must've fallen asleep and slipped onto her shoulder. Not that she was complaining.

What made feel some ache for the brunette though, was that even in her sleep, Nicole still looked a bit stress from all that had been going on in her life.  
  
Even though they had been having a good time watching X-Men and commenting stupid, but funny things throughout it, Nicole still had had an emotionally draining 2 days. She was probably exhausted, thus the head on shoulder. She still couldn't fathom the fact that her fiancé had cheated on her.

Waverly let the movie play on, but some time throughout the film that she'd seen 7 times, she fell asleep too. Her head landed right on top of Nicole's and together, they slept, unafraid of what the future held for them. But I ask myself, if they knew what was coming, would they do it all over again?

 


	4. Cherry Slushie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this story, Willa is unrelated to the sisters. Frankly, I only added her and Constance for the sake of me needing more characters. Also Constance is dating Xavier, I know it's weird, but again I needed it for the story lol
> 
> If you guys have anything that you would like to see happen between Waves and Nicole, like a date idea, or something. Feel free to let me know, I'd be happy to incorporate some of them!!
> 
> Happy reading :-)

2 weeks had passed since Nicole and Waverly’s little movie day. Since then, Nicole had gone over to Waverly’s apartment 3 times just to watch the rest of the X-Men movies. Nicole was a huge fan now and they'd now began the Harry Potter series because Waverly had never watched them before because "they have never peaked her interest."

Nicole almost knocked her out of her chair.

It had been a fun 2 weeks, and both women grew quite close and hung out about every other day. They'd both gone back to work, Nicole to the Purgatory Police Department where she was met with a new murder case and Waverly to Purgatory Elementary school to her kindergarteners who were excited to begin school because they knew they'd have a lot of fun holiday projects.

Neither had told their friends about the girl they met on a bridge late at night on a Wednesday. They liked being their own little secrets.

However, despite their fun. They'd had some hard days, too. Nicole had cried two more times in Waverly’s arms on the days she felt extra vulnerable and was missing Sarah, but she was slowly, but surely moving on from the blonde. She had also received a lot pity from her relatives when she called to inform them that her and Sarah had broken up, which she never liked receiving. And to top it all off, she lost her best friend.

She wasn't the only who had bad days, though. Waverly had explained her family situation to Nicole one night when they were eating take out and playing Black Ops III.

Nicole had noticed that something seemed a little bit off with Waverly, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She finally asked her what was wrong and it was Waverly this time who cried in Nicole’s arms. Nicole hugged her tightly until Waverly felt like letting go.

Eventually she did and she confessed to her what was wrong. "Today's my mom's birthday, but umm... We don't talk anymore. I haven't talked to my parents in 9 years." Nicole's eyes opened wide.

" _9 years_?" She asked, shocked at the information, "Why not?"

"It's a long story."

"We got nothing but time, pretty girl." Waverly’s cheeks tinted red.

"Okay, then. Well, I came out to my parents as a lesbian at 21 and they, well, they didn't like that. I already knew they wouldn't though, which is why I waited until I had moved out of the house. I had moved out the week before. You see, my sister Wynonna is bisexual. She came out to them with her girlfriend, who she was best friends with for 7 years before then, at 16. My parents kicked her out the second she finished saying 'I like boys and girls.' She moved in with her girlfriend and her family, and they didn't speak to her 3 years."

Nicole intertwined their fingers and she squeezed her hand in support.

  
“Eventually, Wynonna moved out and her and her girlfriend broke up, but at 18 she found the love of her life. Two years later, she married Doc Holliday, and the year after that, she got pregnant.

"She had Lili at 21– _13 years ago_ , and the week after she was born, she came to visit my parents so that they could see her baby, their first grandchild. She was both nervous and excited and she was hoping that they'd accept her once again after taking a look at Lili. But Nicole, they didn't even _look_ at Lili. They refused to see a mutant, a product of _sin_." At this point Waverly tears running down her face.

“It didn't matter to them that they baby was born between a man and a women because Wynonna was still bi. She was still into girls and that was a sin, which meant that so was her baby.

"My parents assumed that I wasn't in contact with her, but I'd talked to her every day since they kicked her out. She was the first person that I came out to and she just hugged me and told me that she loved me. I was hoping that when I came out to them, they'd come to their senses now that they knew that both of their daughters were members of an amazing community.  
  
"Unfortunately, that's not what happened. My father slapped and told me to leave his household, that he never wanted me to step into his home again and fill it with the devil's workings. My mother looked heartbroken, and I thought that maybe she'd defend me, but she didn't.

When I walked out of the house I realized that she wasn't heartbroken because of what she saw my dad do to me. She was heartbroken because her daughter's were broken, because she created us, and we turned out to be disappointments. Her look was one of disappointment because _she'd_ raised us and she hadn't abandoned us when she should have. It was her fault in her eyes.

I haven't spoken to either of them since and neither has Wynonna. But, if I'm being honest, sometimes in this world, I can't help but believe them. Maybe I am a sin. I mean, they are my parents. If they think that something is wrong with me enough to not speak to their own daughter, they must be right, right?"

Nicole’s eyes opened wider if it was possible. "Waverly, look at me," she stated in a firm voice. When Waverly didn't look at her, she grabbed her face with her hands.

"Don't you ever say that again. Your thoughts, your feelings, your mind, and  _you_ are valid. You are not a sin, you're a blessing to this world. You're a blessing to your kindergarteners, to your sister and her wife, to your friends. You're a blessing to _me_ , Waverly. You are human with feelings for another human, nothing less.

Your sexuality does not define you. It does not automatically make you a bad person. The only things that determine that are your actions and words and you are filled with nothing but good. Your sexuality is a big part of you and it's important, but it's not all that you are, sweetheart. You are so much more. If someone can judge you based on that one thing, then it's their own goddamn problem for having such small minds.

There is a whole community out there that's rooting for you. There are people who aren't part of that community who are also supporting you. Don't put yourself down like that because you are so fucking special. There is nothing wrong with you. If you ever think that again, remember that you. Are. Not. Alone." Nicole emphasized as she hugged the brunette with all of her might.

Waverly had 2 realizations after that talk.

Number 1, she had realized that she needed to hear those words from Nicole. After 9 years, she assumed that she was okay with her sexuality, but she was wrong. But, it was okay. There's nothing wrong with feeling unworthy as long as you realize it and get back up and your realize that you worth is bigger than you ever knew. She was on her way to being okay and that was all that mattered.

Her second realization was that she, without a doubt, had feelings for Nicole Haught.

\--------------

Today, Waverly and Nicole had plans to go watch Logan now that they had finished the rest of the X-Men movies. They agreed to meet up after work to grab a bite at some Italian place and then catch the movie at the very first Thursday night showing.

After having a great meal together, they drove separately to the theater and walked straight to the line to get snacks.

"Hey, Nicole. How about you go get a seat before the theater fills up?"

"Yeah sure, get me–"

"Popcorn with a pack of red vines and a Cherry slushie, yeah I know."

Nicole looked impressed. "We've either been hanging out too much or we just need to start doing new things."

"As long as I get to spend time with you, I don't care what we're doing," Waverly replied smoothly.

Nicole blushed at that at looked down. Waverly smirked when she wasn't looking realizing the effect she had on the red-head. "Go on then, and don't even think about grabbing your wallet, I'll pay."

"Okay, okay, fine. Thanks. I'll meet you in the middle of the 4th row down, okay?"

Waverly agreed and Nicole walked away to theater 5. Waverly watched her leave while she waited in line. She smiled to herself slightly thinking about the way Nicole blushed and looked down. Ugh, why'd she have to be so goddamn adorable?

She walked up to the cashier as it was her who was next in line and ordered a large popcorn for her and Nicole to share, along with the Red Vines and Raisinettes that would be thrown into the popcorn, and a medium slushie. She had water in her bag for her. One thing was buying expensive snacks in a theater, another was paying $7 for a water bottle.

She got the slushie cup and went to fill it with Cherry. When she finished, she turned around saw some people she really did not want to talk to right now.

"Hey, sis," Wynonna said with a smirk on her face.

"Who was that pretty girl you were with?" said Doc, Wynonna’s husband.

Waverly groaned. "She's just a friend."

"'Just a friend' my ass. You were looking at her in a way that a regular person would definitely not look at a friend," Wynonna spoke again. "So, tell me! Who is she? How'd you guys meet? Why didn't you tell me you were dating someone, asshole?"

"Which number date is this? Why are you an idiot?" Doc jumps in, jokingly.

"Calm down Wynonna, will you? First of all, fuck you Holliday," she glared playfully to her brother-in-law. "Secondly, all you need to know is that we are not on a date and we've never been on one. Now, please tell me you didn't come to watch Logan."

Oh, but of course they had. The Earp sisters had always been Marvel and DC comics fans, so Waverly wasn't shocked, but she was still hoping that they'd be heading to another mObie.

Wynonna just laughed and pushed Waverly towards the way of the theater 5.

Nicole was sitting in the 4th row when she saw Waverly walk in...with 2 other people. She looked at them and realized that it was Waverly's sister and her husband. She suddenly got a bit nervous when she saw all three walking over to her.

"Hey, Waves. This is my sister Wynonna and her husband Doc." Nicole smiled politely and shook their hand introducing herself.

"I've heard a lot about you," shared Nicole.

"Unfortunately, we can't say the same about you," Wynonna stated while looking at Waverly. Thankfully, the very short conversation had to come to an end because the lights started dimming, and the couple dismissed themselves to find some seats below Waverly and Nicole.

"They're cute," Nicole said as she saw the married couple walking down hand in hand.

"Ehh, you get over it." Nicole giggled. Waverly handed the popcorn over to her and they dumped their candy in it.

"We're weird, ha?" Asked Waverly.

"Yeah, but it's okay. I like us."

Waverly looked at Nicole adoringly. "Yeah, me too."

Once the movie was over, both girls had tears on running down their cheeks. "God, why would they do that to us?" Nicole asked.

"I don't know, but I will never forgive the writers."

They got up from their seats and Waverly extended her hand to Nicole, so that they could start walking down. Before Nicole, could even think about taking it, Waverly withdrew it and blushed.

"Uhh, sorry."

"You know, you're cute when you blush," Nicole grinned. That made Waverly blush even harder. Nicole’s grin turned into a smirk as they turned around and walked down the steps to exit the theater. They saw that Wynonna and Doc were standing outside waiting for them.

"Please, tell me that one of you cried," started Wynonna.

"We both did, actually," Nicole replied.

"See!" Wynonna said turning to her husband, "I'm not soft, you're just heartless." Wynonna is one of the most badass people Waverly has ever known, but she could also be a huge softy.

"Mhmm, right. Now, Wynonna and I were wondering if you guys wanted to go bowling with us. It's our date night, but we'd love for you guys to tag along."

Nicole looked at Waverly and shrugged. "I'm in if you are?"

Waverly looked back at the couple, "Alright, we'll follow you."

That night, Nicole had 2 realizations.

Number 1, she missed having friends who weren't cops. Not that she didn't love her friends, they were the best thing in her life, but having other friends who didn't talk about cases sometimes was refreshing.

Her second realization hit her when Waverly kept making fun her when she’d fail completely when throwing the bowling ball. Her laugh was all that she could focus on and it unlocked a cage of butterflies. She, without a doubt, had feelings for Waverly Earp.  
\----------  
Waverly and Nicole both wanted to have a horror movie night on Halloween. They were too old for parties and it’s not like any of them had children to dress up and take trick or treating.

However, they didn’t want to spend it all by their lonesomes, which is why they decided to invite some friends to join them. They were going to do it at Nicole's not-so-newish place. Waverly invited her sister and Doc, and her friends Bobo and Willa. Nicole invited her own friends Xavier and Constance who were also fellow cops.

They all arrived at around 5pm, in order to get in a good amount of movies, and introductions were passed around.

"Oh my God, I think I'm in love with your eyes," Wynonna told Will. Willa laughed and thanked her.

"Where's Lili, tonight?" Waverly asked the married couple.

"Who's that?" Bobo asked. "Are we waiting for someone else?"

"Oh no, Lili's our daughter," Doc answered. "And she's at a sleepover," he said looking back at Waverly.

"Oh cool, so is this a couple's horror movie night?" Bobo laughed.

"Oh, no," "Nope." Said Waverly and Nicole at the same time.

"We're not dating," Waverly said, blushing a bit.

"Not yet they aren't," murmured up Wynonna. Doc bumped her arm playfully.

"Let em’ be," he said in joking tone. Waverly and Nicole looked at each other shyly.

"So, what movies will we be watching?" Xavier asked, saving Nicole from more embarrassment. He winked at her while Waverly responded and she mouthed a thank you.

"Well, Nicole and I discussed it for about an hour."

"More like argued about it," Nicole came in. "We're both very passionate people." The group laughed.

"Anyway," Waverly rolled her eyes playfully, "we decided on 4 movies that should last us till around midnight. We chose The Others, The Shining, Sinister, and A Nightmare on Elm Street."

"Great choices," Constance shared. "I approve," she joked. There were murmurs of agreement all around. The group moved themselves from the kitchen/dining table to the living room.

Wynonna sat in between Doc’s legs on the recliner. Xavier and Constance made themselves comfortable on the comfy carpet on the floor, his arm around his wife, and Bobo and Willa sat themselves on the couch that fit 4 people, right next to Waverly. Willa was cuddled up to Bobo.

"So, what should we start with?" Asked Nicole. They all agreed on The Shining and Nicole casted the movie she'd rented for the day on her huge T.V. using her phone which was charging right next to it. She turned around to take a seat and noticed that the only one available was right next to Waverly. She honestly felt a bit awkward because they were surrounded my cuddling couples.

She took a seat next to the shorter girl as the movie began. Halfway through the second movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Waverly reached for Nicole’s hand when she got scared during a certain scene. She hadn't even noticed, but obviously, Nicole did and her heart stopped for a second at the innocent touch.

When Waverly did notice that she was holding Nicole’s hand, she moved to pulled it back, but Nicole looked at her when she felt the grip loosen. She squeezed her hand letting her know that it was okay. They held hands throughout the rest of the movie.

They let go after it was over and everyone took a 5 minute break to stretch as they chatted about the movies that they had just watched. Waverly had gotten up to use the restroom and when she came back, they all sat down again to watch the movie, but everyone had switched spots.

Now, Wynonna and Doc were on the floor, thinking that Bobo and Willa were probably tired. They themselves moved to the space Waverly and Nicole had occupied, and Xavier and Constance stayed where they were. She saw Nicole take a seat on the recliner and when she turned out to get a chair from the dining table, Nicole grabbed her hand.

"I don't bite you know," she told Waverly as she pulled her in between her legs. Their hearts were pounding harder than they had so far around each other. Nicole swore that Waverly would be able to feel it. They'd never actually gotten that close and when Waverly sat down, she felt nervous, but also at ease.

She was glad that the lights were off now that the movie had begun and no one was paying attention to them because her face was hot. She laid her head on Nicole’s chest and Nicole wrapped her arms lazily around her waist and it felt so warm. She enjoyed that Halloween night more than she thought she would.  
\-----------------  
Waverly and Nicole spontaneously decided that they wanted to go to Disneyland. They hadn't seen each other or even talked much in a week because Nicole had been busy at work trying to crack a case. Once Nicole did crack the case, they said why not celebrate with some amusement park fun? So, that's what they did.

While they were driving to Disneyland, the told each other childhood stories that made them cry tears of laughter. Especially the one where Waverly had accidentally fallen on her teacher’s lap face down her senior year, a teacher that everyone was totally in love with, when her best friend had shoved her a little too hard.

Both Waverly and the teacher's face went redder than a tomato. No one let that incident go for the rest of their last semester.

Nicole's most embarrassing story occurred when she was 12 and she was out getting ice cream with a friend of hers and her friend's parents. After they'd had their ice cream, they walked back to the parking lot and Nicole, not paying attention, had walked into the wrong car. In it there was a girl a bit older than she was and her parents. They stared at her, unsure of what to say to the young girl.

Her eyes opened wide and she exited the vehicle as quickly as possible, not saying a word to the family. Nicole's friend, who hadn't realized that she had disappeared for a second never knew of the incident. Waverly's stomach hurt from laughter.

Once they arrived at the park, both women agreed that they'd start off with the rides that wouldn't make them feel like their stomach was dropping just yet.

They began on the Peter Pan ride, moving on to Pirates of the Caribbean, which was their favorite. They had their arms interlocked throughout the the whole ride.

They were having a great time with each other, both happy that they'd found one another. Eventually, they moved on to The Haunted Mansion and a few roller coasters. Then, came Matterhorn. Both were extra excited for this one because this ride sat to people in one seat. One person would lie against the back of the seat, and the other would lie against the chest of that person.

They'd been wanting to be in that warm position again since Halloween. Only this time they'd be screaming in each other's ears and Nicole's arms would be up in the air, and not around the shorter girl.

"Why do I have to sit in between your legs?" Waverly asked.

"Because Waves, you're shorter than me. If you sit against the back, you won't be able to see anything." Waverly glared at her, but sighed in defeat.

"Fine," she rolled her eyes, secretly loving the fact that they'd be in that position.

Next, they walked with fingers intertwined hands to California Adventures where they rode California Screamin' twice, knowing that it was the best roller coaster there. By the end of the day they decided to get on the ferris wheel. Waverly wanted to go on the one that swung, but they ended up going on the regular ones because Nicole isn't the biggest fan of heights, and swinging in the air didn't sound too appealing to her.

Halfway up, Nicole started freaking out a bit. "Wow, umm, we're pretty high," she looked down nervously. Waverly looked over at the taller woman, worried.

"Hey, it's okay. This thing is stable, we're not going to fall or anything." But that did nothing to calm Nicole's nerves. So, she did something else.

Waverly moved herself right next to Nicole and put her arm around her waist. The red-head let herself be held because she was really freaking out. She grasped Waverly's sweater with her right hand like the girl would just fly away.

Arriving to the top only made it worse, so Waverly tried to distract her further. She grabbed Nicole's face. "Hey," she whispered, "who's your favorite character in Harry Potter?"

Nicole's breathe got caught in her throat as Waverly looked at her that way. "What?"

"Who's your favorite Harry Potter character?"

"Uhh, Hermione."

"Why?"

"Well, she may be young, but she's a fierce one. She's unafraid of what others think about her, knowing that in the end she comes out the winner because of her brains... You know, someday I hope I have a daughter and she turns out like Hermione," she laughed softly.

"Yeah, that would be adorable. With you as her mother, she'd definitely be a fierce, strong little one." Nicole smiled in response.

Nicole then did something she hadn't done. She lunged forward and kissed her cheek. "Thanks," she responded shyly.

"Yeah, no problem," Waverly spoke softly, her cheek tingling in the place where the other woman left a kiss.

They pulled apart and Nicole realized that they were near the bottom again. They breathed out a sigh of relief and exited the ride, deciding that they were ready to head home, not before grabbing a bite at the Denny's before hand. Obviously, Waverly bought Nicole some dessert.

What they didn't know though, was that while they drove back to Purgatory, exhausted from having walked around all day, William Yates sat on his bunker in FDC Miami prison, planning his escape in order to get his revenge on the one who had managed to capture him-- Nicole Haught.

 

 


	5. Better Than Ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy reading :-)
> 
> I think you'll enjoy this chapter....
> 
> I won't update again until Tuesday or Wednesday, but no later than that!

Waverly showed up to Nicole's place on a random Thursday after work. Xavier had called her and asked her to check in on Nicole for him. He usually did, but he had last minute plans with Constance and her parents.

Waverly was confused as to why he had asked her to check up on Nicole. She thought she was at work, but all Xavier said was that she always took November 13th off if she was supposed to be working that day. He offered no other explanation and said that Nicole would explain.

November 13th was actually a special day for Waverly. Today was the day that some stranger saved her life 19 years ago. Every morning, since she was 12, on this day, she looks up to the sky and says thank you to the woman who saved her life. Then, she goes on with her day. The day no longer has the effect on her that it used to. After years of therapy, panic attacks, and nightmares she was okay now. It was a long time ago, but she never forgot to thank the woman.

After telling Xavier that she would stop by after work, he thanked her and hung up. So, here she stood knocking on Nicole's front door at 4pm on a Thursday.

Nicole opened the door a few seconds later. Waverly gasped at the sight in front of her. Nicole's eyes were red and puffy and she looked terrible. She didn't ask any questions, she simply went to hug Nicole.

The sob that she let out was one filled with so much pain and loss. Waverly was still lost, but she just continued to hug the taller girl.

Eventually, Nicole let go, but not completely as she grabbed Waverly's hand and led her to the couch. Waverly sat down and Nicole cuddled up next to her. She lay her head on Waverly's shoulder while her knees were tucked in as Waverly wrapped her arm tightly around her.

They were silent for a while, Waverly being respectful to Nicole didn't ask any questions. When Nicole felt that she was calmed down, she spoke silently.

"Today is the day that my mother 'passed away,'" she said weakly making air quotes. Waverly's mouth widened just a bit. She just realized that she had never heard once about Nicole's parents. Honestly, they hadn't even crossed her mind and now she felt like a complete dick for never asking about them.

"If you're wondering why I'm using air quotes, it's because she didn't just pass away. She didn't die peacefully," she chuckled humorlessly. "She was killed. Murdered in cold blood," her voice cracked in anger.

Waverly's eyes widened, "I'm so sorry," she whispered, ignoring her curiosity and stopped herself from blurting out questions.

"I miss her, you know?" Waverly squeezed her shoulder in support. "She wasn't supposed to leave me, leave us." Waverly assumed that she was talking about her father. She wondered what he was like.

"I was only 10 when they killed her. It wasn't just her that they killed that day though. It was also another man, he was older, around 60. My mom was only 35," she paused before taking a deep breath. "She was at McDonald's buying me some chicken nuggets for after school, she was running late, though. I had been waiting in school, while my mom was getting shot. I was waiting for her to pick me up, but she never did," she cried.

"Wait, did you say that it was a shooting at McDonalds?" Waverly asked.

Nicole wiped her eyes, "Yeah." Waverly whispered something incomprehensible to herself.

"Did she have shoulder length hair, and black glasses? A small birthmark on her cheek?"

Nicole sat up at that. "How do you know all that?" She was beyond confused.

"Oh my God," Waverly whispered to herself. "Nicole," she said looking at her, "your mom saved my life."

"What?"

"I was there, Nicole. I was at McDonald's that day, the day of the shooting," a tear left her eye as she remembered the day. "Your mom saved my life, she was umm... she was shot right in front of me, right in front of everyone. It's something that I could never forget."

"Okay, but what do you mean she saved your life? How?" Nicole asked, craving new information about her mother.

"I was there after school myself. I always walked home, but that day my mom had given me money to buy something from McDonald's afterward. I was 11 at the time. When I was standing in line I heard someone come in and scream 'Everybody get down!'

"I looked back and saw a man with a beard holding a gun. Your mom was standing behind me in line and I guess she saw that I was alone, so she grabbed me and pulled me aside. I started crying and we sat under a table together. She told me that everything was going to be okay, that all the guy wanted was money.

"I believed her, but that didn't stop me from crying. Your mom, though, she was wrong. Yes, he was there for money, but they were angry at something. So angry that instead of leaving after the cashier had handed hi'm the money, he stayed instead of leaving like usual robbers.

"He wanted blood. I didn't know why, but I later found out that his own daughter had been kidnapped and murdered. She was 12. He was robbing the place because he'd lost his job after getting into a state of depression and he needed the money. He thought it unfair that it was he who had to lose his daughter.

"He chose McDonald's because he knew that there would be children there. Anyway, he spotted me under a table next to your mom. But, before that, he heard someone talking and he looked and saw an old man trying to escape, so he shot him. Right there, all of a sudden the man just stopped breathing. I had never been so scared in my life.

"Afterward, he turned back to me and aimed his gun at me. I guess he thought that I was the perfect target because I was around the age of his daughter. He fired right away and without hesitating, your mom, she jumped in front of me, Nicole." Nicole let out a sob, it was a mixture between sadness, happiness, and disbelief.

"Your mom did that. She didn't die instantly, though. She was alive for about a full minute after um, that. She held my hand as I cried to this stranger who had just saved my life.

"She told me something," Waverly paused desperately trying to think.

"What? What was it?"

"She um, shit what was it?!" She exclaimed. "Oh yeah! She said, 'if you're ever lucky enough to meet my daughter, she's about your age, tell her I love her, okay? Tell her that I'll always be with her.' Then... she was gone.

"Nicole, she told me that. I never actually thought about the fact that I could bump into her daughter, but here you are. Her last words were to you."

Nicole sat still. Processing all of the information that was given to her in the span of a few minutes. Waverly was there. The last words of her mother were spoken to the girl that she has feelings for. Her mom's last words were to her.

After years of thinking about how her mom felt, what her last thoughts and words were, Waverly sat here and gave her all the answers she'd been seeking for 20 years. After she let it all go through her mind, she turned and hugged Waverly and they cried in each other's arms. Honestly, they weren't sure for what, but they had so many goddamn emotions running through them that they had to let it out in someway.

"You met my mom," Nicole stated.

"I did," Waverly let out a teary laugh. "I did and she told me to tell you that loved you, Nicole."

"She loves me," Nicole grinned. "Of course she said that."

She looked at the clock that was hung on the wall and realized that it was now 5:00pm. She had to go. "Thank you so much, Waves for coming by, but I have to go pick up my dad. We always go the cemetery to visit my mom at 5:30."

"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked taking Nicoles hand.

Nicole did. She wanted Waverly to hold her when she was there, but she never knew if her dad was going to be sober or not. If he wasn't she'd be embarrassed. She looked at Waverly and saw nothing but care in her eyes. She had a right to know what was going on in her life, she was her best friend, maybe someday something more.

"I'd love for you to come." Waverly gave her a kind smile. "Will you drive?"

"Sure, love." She hadn't caught the term of endearment when it left her mouth, but Nicole did and it gave her butterflies.

They got into Waverly's car and drove to Nicole's dad's home. But, before they went in, Nicole had to warn Waverly. When she parked in the driveway and she went to open the door, Nicole grabbed her arm to stop her. "Hold on, I have to tell you something."

Waverly nodded for her to continue.

"When my mom died, my dad, he didn't take it well. I mean, no one did, but my it broke my dad into 2. She was the love of his life and he lost her. He started drinking, and drinking, and drinking until he would pass out. He'd numb the pain. I thought it would stop, but it didn't. Look, I guess what I'm trying to say is that my dad's an alcoholic." She looked down ashamed, "I just wanted to tell you that when we enter I have no idea if my dad's going to be sober or not."

Waverly grabbed Nicole's face and moved up. "You have nothing to be ashamed of with me, Nicole. I will never judge you for anything, I promise you that." Nicole nodded at her with a grin, and exited the car.

They walked up to the front door and Nicole walked in because her dad always left the door unlocked. "Dad?" she called out.

"I'll be out in a second, sweetheart," he yelled back. She breathe out a sigh of relief, he wasn't drunk at the moment. She knew, though that once they came back he'd drown his sorrows in his alcohol and it broke her heart thinking about.

She had tried convincing him to stop drinking and go to AA or anything, but it was no use. He never payed attention to her. He didn't want to be sober because being sober meant remembering his wife. But, he had his good days, and she was glad that he was being respectful of her mother's day today and chose not to drink.

Her dad walked out and stopped for a second when he realized that his daughter wasn't alone. "Oh, hello," he spoke.

"Dad, this is my uh, friend, Waverly."

"Oh, well, good to meet you Waverly," He extended his hand for her to shake.

"You too, Mr. Haught."

"Call me Jack. Mr. Haught makes me feel too old," he spoke. Waverly and Nicole giggled politely.

"Are you ready to go?" Nicole asked her father.

"Yeah sure, are you driving or should I?"

"Actually, Waverly brought me, so you okay with going in her car?"

"Yeah, no problem." They all exited together, Nicole turning to lock the door because she knew her dad wouldn't. They entered Waverly's car with Jack in the backseat.

"So, how long have you 2 known each other?" Jack asked the girls.

"Umm, about a month and a half," Waverly responded.

"No offense to you Waverly, and I mean this in the kindest way possible, but why would you bring along someone you've just recently met?" He asked his daughter.

"Well, dad," Nicole began while turning over to glance at Waverly, "She's a pretty special friend," she smiled while looking ahead.

Jack just smiled to himself knowing what that meant. "Yeah, your mom was a pretty special friend to me too, once upon a time," he chuckled.

Meanwhile, Waverly's heart was beating quicker than usual, but was wearing a warm smile on her face.

They arrived at the cemetery and when they got to where Nicole's mother lay, her dad left a single white Carnation, which meant to remember and a purple Larkspur which represents a beautiful spirit which is exactly what her mom was.

The headstone read "Maddison Haught, 1961-1996, A beautiful mind and spirit that lives on in our hearts."

"That's beautiful," Waverly comments. Nicole smiled at her.

"Yeah, my dad came up with it."

"Only because it was the truth, it is the truth," he corrected with a sad smile on his face and a tear running down his face.

After a while, Jack went back to the car, not being to handle being there any longer. Nicole and Waverly stayed behind, and Nicole sat down Indian style on the grass. She looked up at Waverly, and held out her hand for her to sit next to her. Once she did neither of them let go, as Nicole intertwined their fingers.

"Hey, mom," she started, a tear finally making it's way out of her eye, "I hope you're doing okay. I miss you so much. She took a deep breath and continued, "I want to reintroduce you to Waverly here. You probably remember her. I wanted to let you know that Waverly told me everything. She told me that you saved her life and I wanted to say thank you for that. Thanks mom because now she's someone who means a lot to me and that's all because of you and your bravery.

"Your memory will never be forgotten in between the 3 of us, I promise. You will live on to my future children too. I'll them everything that we did together. I hope that one day, I'll see your gorgeous face again," she smiled.

At this point, she just turned around and buried her head in Waverly's neck. Waverly ran her hands through her hair. She didn't cry, but she basked in the comfort Waverly provided.

Meanwhile, Jack was in Waverly's car, watching the women from afar, thinking about how good they look together. He missed that with his wife. He missed everything about her, her laugh, the way her eyes lit up when talking about science, the way their hands fit perfectly, he missed spooning her in bed and waking up next to her. He sobbed in the car and couldn't wait to get back home and grab a drink.

Once the woman were done, Waverly thanked Nicole's mom for saving her life again, they drove back to Jack's home to drop him off, then the girl returned to Nicole's. Waverly walked her back to her apartment.

"Thanks, Waves, for today, for _everything_ ," Nicole said while looking at Waverly square in the eye.

Waverly bent forward to hug Nicole goodbye, "It's no problem, pretty girl," she whispered. She pulled away from Nicole.

In that split second that Waverly pulled away, Nicole knew that Waverly really _was_ special. Even though she was really fucking terrified to trust someone again, and she wasn't even sure that Waverly returned her feeling, she just had to _try_. So, that's what she did.

She grabbed Waverly's arm and spun her back around to her and she kissed her. Waverly's eyes opened wide in alarm because she definitely was _not_ expecting this. But, she realized what was happening and she kissed Nicole back.

It was the best first kiss Waverly had ever had. Nicole entangled her hands in Waverly's hair, while Waverly's arms went to rub her back. There was a sense of urgency that Nicole put into the kiss, she wanted Waverly to know that she really was thankful for her and that she _truly_ had feelings for her. The last thing she wanted was Waverly to think that she was a rebound.

Waverly got the message. Nicole pulled back to breathe, her hands clasped around Waverly's waist and Waverly's arms on her waist.

"Wow," Waverly whispered. Nicole giggled quietly.

"Wow, indeed," she pulled herself away from Waverly, leaving her to think about what just happened.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked hopefully.

Waverly, who'd barely screwed her head back on spoke, "Definitely." Nicole turned around and walked into her apartment, closing the door lightly behind her.

Waverly's face grew a wide smile and she turned to walk back to her car. Besides replaying what just happened, she was also thinking, "Thank you so much Constance's parents," and she drove home.

Nicole walked to her bed, exhausted from the days events, and lay her head on the pillow. Then, she grabbed the one next her and squealed like a 13 year old who's just received her first kiss.  
\------------------  
At 6:30am Nicole was awake and ready to head back to work after taking the day off yesterday. However, right before she got to making her coffee, an unexpected knock was heard throughout her home. Confused, she walked over and opened the door to a short brunette holding 2 cups of Starbucks coffee. After the initial shock, she asks "Please tell me that's a White Chocolate Mocha."

"You know it is," Waverly responds with a smile on her face.

"Ugh, yes. You are my life savior. And right on time too," she let Waverly in, "I was literally just about to make my coffee."

"Yeah, well, I am pretty awesome."

"That you are, Earp," Nicole smiled at her adoringly. Waverly bent her head down to hide her blush.

"So," she began, "Can we talk about last night?"

"You know what, I've never really been a fan of this conversation. As humans, we complicate things that really shouldn't be complicated. So, I'll just come out and say it," she smiled at Waverly. "I have feelings for you, okay? I like you _a_ _lot_ and frankly, I just want to kiss you again."

Waverly was taken aback by Nicole's bluntness. But, she can't deny the fact that may have turned her on a little. She smirked and stated, "Well, I'm not going to stop you."

Nicole smiled widely and grabbed the front of Waverly's jacket to move her towards her. Their lips locked and they felt the same things as yesterday, possibly stronger. There were fireworks in the air, swarms of butterflies in their stomachs, and their hearts were beating harder than beats on a drum.

Waverly could get used to the sweet taste of Nicole and Nicole good get accustomed to kissing Waverly's soft lips.

They pulled apart, and Nicole's arms went around Waverly's waist, but this time Waverly's hands were caressing Nicole's face. "I like you, too," she whispered with a smile on her face. She gave her a final peck before pulling apart.

"Now," Waverly began, "before we start making out more, I have a question for you," Waverly pulled out a rose basically out of thin air. "Nicole Haught, will you go on a date me?"

Nicole's smile widened as she took the single rose, "I'd love to, Waverly Earp." She turned to walk to her kitchen and find a place to the set the rose before heading out to work.

After doing do, both woman walked out the door together. "Hey, where'd you get that rose from? That thing came out of no where."

"It's a secret," Waverly simply stated

"What do you mean 'it's a secret?' Just tell me."

"Nope."

"Waves."

"No."

"Ugh, fine."  
\------------------  
"You look extra happy today," Xavier told Nicole.

"I am," she smiled shyly.

Xavier eyed her suspiciously. "Why?" he dragged out slowly.

"Well, if you must know. I have a date with Waverly."

"Well Jesus, it's about goddamn time."

"What do you mean?"

"You've both been staring at each other with heart eyes since we saw you together _2_ _weeks_ _ago_."

"Oh shut up," Nicole scoffed playfully.

"Mhm. Get back to work, Happy."

Meanwhile, Nicole counted down the hours until she was off from work. Halfway through her time being up, the Captain called her into her office.  
\---------------  
Waverly, who had to wait a half hour for Nicole to get off of work was at home trying to pick out what to wear for their date. They were supposed supposed to dress pretty casual because they weren't doing anything fancy, but still. You could look hot while dressing in pretty casual clothes.

She'd texted Nicole the details earlier and they agreed that Nicole would show up to at Waverly's at 6:00. After spending half an hour debating, she decided on some tight black jeans, and a tight shirt that low key showed off her abs. She would throw on a bomber jacket when they would go out later.

There was a knock on her front door, and she opened it up to Nicole wearing a leather jacket she's never seen her wear before and boy, did she look hot in it.

"Wow," Waverly spoke, "You look stunning."

"You don't look so bad yourself, Earp," Nicole responded looking at little to long at what she could see of Waverly's abs. Waverly smirked knowing that would happen.

"Come in, Nicole." Her smirk was replaced my a genuine smile and she looked up to kiss her. Nicole got super close to Waverly's lips, but then stopped to whisper, "I don't normally kiss before a first date," then pulled away with a smirk on her face.

Waverly looked down with a red face and spoke to herself, "What a tease."

"So, what are you cooking, pretty girl?"

Waverly turned to face the red-head, "Well, one of the things I love about you and I is our ability to refrain from all the fanciness. Although, I hope we do have fancy dates in the future. Anyway, I know that you have a strange love for waffles and--"

Nicole gasped, half jokingly, half serious, "You didn't."

"Oh, yes I did. We are having waffles for dinner." She proceeded to take Nicole's hand and lead her to the kitchen. "Welcome to the waffle buffet."

On Waverly's kitchen counter was 6 freshly baked waffles alongside many different things. There was whipped cream, syrup chocolate sauce, and Nutella. Topping wise, she had lay out strawberries, bananas, chocolate chips, and sprinkles.

"I swear Waves, you're the most incredible person on this planet. I mean, who thinks of this as a first date?"

"Only the most incredible person on this planet."

"Ha-ha."

"Come on, then. Ready to dig in?"

"Oh you know I am, Earp."

Both women served themselves waffles, 3 each, trying out different combinations and having a great time overall.

They sat themselves across each other and just talked as if they'd known each other for years

"Do you have a favorite student?" Nicole asked, trying to learn more about Waverly's job.

"Of course not. I'm a teacher, I'm not allowed to have a favorite."

"Mhm, right and I turn into a werewolf when the full moon comes out."

"You know, you'd finally be cool if you really did."

"What do you mean _finally_?"

"You heard right."

Nicole chuckled lightly. "You know I have some pretty exciting news."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Well, my Captain called me into his office today."

"Uh-huh..."

"I'm getting promoted to sergeant!"

"Nicole! That's great news! How did you not tell me this earlier?"

"I don't know. It's exciting and all, but I'm pretty nervous. I mean, I'm going to be supervising a detective squad. Me. _Supervising_. A 30-year-old women who still gets excited over waffles."

"Hey, I get excited over pizza like it's the only thing I can afford," Waverly contributed. "Don't worry about it, Nicole, you'll be great."

"Thanks," Nicole responded with a smile.

After, the girls had had their fill, Waverly stated, "Ready for part 2?"

"What's part 2?"

"Well, I figured, since we had dinner for waffles, why not continue with this youthful fun?"

"What'd you have in mind?" Waverly smiled widely at Nicole, then grabbed her hand and led her to her car. She drove for about minutes when they arrived at a retro arcade.

"An arcade?"

"You don't like it?" Waverly now felt insecure about her decision.

"Don't be ridiculous, I love it," Nicole reassured her with a smile. "Fair warning though, I'm very competitive."

"Don't worry, Haught. So, am I."

They walked into the arcade filled with classic games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Frogger, and of course Dance Dance Revolution.

"A retro arcade. How have I never heard of this?"

Waverly dragged Nicole to Frogger first. "Highest score buys the other that super cute Frog over there?" She pointed to the corner gifts shop.

"Oh you're so on."

They continued to challenge each other with the other arcade games for about 2 hours before they decided to call it a night. Waverly drove to Nicole's apartment, Nicole with frog in hand and a prideful smile on her face.

"I think I'm going to challenge you more often, Earp. I like the idea of me beating you a lot."

"Screw you, Nicole."

"You wish, babe." The tension changed automatically between the women. Waverly cleared her throat while she blushed madly.

"Okay, I think I'll go now," she laughed. Nicole followed suit.

She gave Waverly a quick peck and thanked her for the day. "I had a great time, Waves. I needed that."

Waverly bent forward and gave her another soft kiss, this time dragging it out a bit longer. "No problem, pretty girl."  
\------------  
The weeks had passed with 3 more dates, and a lot more hanging out. Nothing much had changed between them except the fact that now they would make out and cuddle a lot more.

Today was Thanksgiving and Waverly had asked Nicole to join her and her sister in her sister's home yesterday when they were binge-watching Orange is The New Black. Nicole felt bad for sort of declining, but she always spends Thanksgiving with her dad. Well, actually that's a lie.`

She spends it with her dad if he's sober. Every year was different, she never knew what to expect. That's why she told Waverly that maybe she'd show up, it all depended on her father. Usually, when her dad was drunk, she'd go back home and spend the holiday alone when Sarah was away with family, or she'd head over to Xavier and Constance's place, with Sarah.

It was 4:30 when she showed to her dad's house and she was silently praying that her dad was sober. Even though she'd grown accustomed to never knowing and leaving when she realized her dad wouldn't be celebrating that year, it still manage to hurt every time.

She entered the place hesitantly, afraid of what she might see. She looked in the living room and didn't see her dad there. "Dad?" She called out. "Where are you?" She didn't hear a response and she knew what that meant. She walked into Jack's bedroom and saw him lying in his bed with a beer in hand, knocked out.

"Oh, dad," she whispered. She shook her head in disappointment. If this would have happened years earlier she would've cried. But, that's is how often it happened.

She walked to him and took the beer out of his hand. She then grabbed a blanket that was folded on the corner of the bed and spread it over him. "Happy thanksgiving," she spoke to him. "Even though you pull this shit, I'm still grateful for you." She looked up to the ceiling and said, "I'm grateful for you too mom. I hope you're having some bomb turkey up there in heaven," she giggled to herself.

She bent down to give her dad a kiss on the forehead, then drove back home. She debated for a while, thinking about going to Waverly's sister's place, but decided against it. She may not be really pissed or sad, but she was a bit bothered and she knew that Waverly would pick up on it instantly, so she just drove back to her apartment. She didn't want to be a buzzkill.

At around 10pm, Waverly knocked on Nicole's door. Nicole opened it up looking like she'd just woken up.

"Were you sleeping already?"

"Oh no, I mean, I feel asleep about 10 minutes, but I didn't mean to," she opened the door wide for Waverly to come in. She gave her a quick peck before walking to the living room couch.

"I brought you left overs."

"Yes!" Nicole silently said.

"How was Thanksgiving with your dad?"

Nicole avoided looking Waverly in the eye, "It was good."

"Yeah?"

Nicole sighed putting her fork down. "No...he was passed out on his bed."

"What? Why didn't you come over, then?"

"I wasn't feeling up to it," she avoided her eyes again.

"Nicole, look at me."

"Why didn't you come over?" she asked again softly.

Nicole looked up and said, "I was bothered a bit by the fact that my dad wasn't sober today. I really miss him, you know? And I just didn't want to be a bother while you and your sister had fun and stuff."

"Nicole, you should've called me. I would've come by earlier. Actually no, you should've shown up! You wouldn't have bothered anyone, _least_ _of_ _all_ _me_ ," she smiled genuinely.

"Ugh, I know. I was just being ridiculous. Again."

"Hey, no you're not being ridiculous." Waverly took Nicole's food and placed in on the coffee table and placed her arm around the taller girl's waist. She kissed her forehead and said, "Do you remember when you told me that my feelings were valid?" Nicole nodded.

"Well, so are yours, Nicole, alright? Nothing you feel is ridiculous and you can always call me when you feel down."

Nicole looked up and Waverly and kissed her softly. "Thanks, babe."

"Hmm, I don't think that one kiss is enough for a thank you."

Nicole laughed at this, and said, "Sorry 'bout it, but you took food out of my hands." She grabbed her food again. Waverly just shoved her playfully and she recalled funny stories to Nicole that the married couple had told her over dinner.  
\---------------  
Waverly woke up on Nicole's couch, she was basically lying on top of the taller girl.

"Good morning," Nicole said as she felt Waverly move slightly.

"You're awake," she stated in a raspy voice.

"I am," Nicole responded.

"You know, you could've slid out under me, love."

"Yeah, but you're keeping me warm."

"Well, I'm glad you were able to use me as a human blanket," she giggled. "Want go over to Wynnona's house and eat some leftover's?"

"Sure, why not?"

The women both got ready, Waverly borrowing one of Nicole's hoodies, in which Nicole though she looked absolutely adorable in. They arrived at Wynnona's place where Nicole was greeted with smirks, that weren't directed to her.

"Did you sleep over?" Wynonona asked Waverly.

"Watch it..." Waverly warned.

"Or what? You'll get one of your students to beat me up?" Doc laughed loudly, as did Nicole.

Before Waverly could respond, a girl around 12 came into view and Nicole realized that it was Wynnona and Doc's daughter.

"Hello," she introduced herself to Nicole as she shook her hand. "I'm Lili."

Nicole looked impressed by the younger girl as she shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Lili. I'm Nicole. Now, I've got to give you some credit there...how old are you?"

"12," responded Lili.

"When I was 12, I wouldn't even come out of my room to meet my dad's friends when they came over to visit. I'd be forced to come out," she giggled.

Lili laughed softly, too. "What about your mom's?"

Nicole's smile faltered a little bit. "My mom, unfortunately, passed away when I was 10."

"Okay, Lili. How about you go help me set up the table?" Wynnona asked her daughter. Lili followed her to the table. They'd heard all about Nicole's mom and her experience with Waverly last night during dinner. Lili was in her room by then, having finished earlier.

Nicole looked at Wynnona gratefully.

"How was your Thanksgiving, Nicole?" Doc asked.

Nicole looked over at Waverly and smiled, "It was pretty good." Waverly threw her arm over her and squeezed her shoulder with a warm smile.

While they were eating leftovers for breakfast, Nicole looked around at the 4 people that were sitting around with her laughing at a story that Lili was telling them and she smiled. She felt at home, again. She missed this, the laughter, the smiles, the overall warmth. It felt good.

Waverly looked over at her and she grabbed her hand. "You okay?" She asked.

Nicole smiled back, "Better than ever."

For now.


	6. Do You Want to Fight For Her? (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter because I decided to make this into 2 parts. The 2nd part will be up by Friday or Saturday!
> 
> I want to apologize for having not changed the names in some parts in the last chapter, but hopefully I didn't make the same mistake again. If I do, just let me know in the comments, please. Thanks!
> 
> Happy reading :-)

Nicole wanted to surprise Waverly at work today. She had the day off, so why not? In reality, she wanted to see the shorter girl interact with the kids, she knew it'd be too cute to resist. She arrived at the elementary school and walked into the office asking for directions to Waverly's classroom. They gave them to her after she signed in as a visitor.

When she found the class, she walked in and automatically spotted Waverly squatting beside a little girl's desk helping her out with what looked like a Christmas project. Waverly had looked up at the sound of the door opening and she saw her girlfriend, her eyes portrayed shock, but a wide smile overtook her face.

She got up from her crouched position when she noticed that her kindergarteners were looking at Nicole with curiosity in their faces.

"Hey, kids! I want you all to meet a special friend of mind. Her name is Nicole, say "Hi, Nicole!"

"Hi, Nicole!" The kids screamed.

Nicole emulated Waverly's wide smiled, half because they kids were adorable and half because the tone that Waverly's adopted when talking to the kindergarteners was too cute.

"Hey, everyone. It's nice to meet you," she replied kindly. The kids, already bored, moved their eyes back to their projects. It seemed like they were creating Christmas trees out of colored paper.

Waverly walked up to Nicole and gave her a hug. "Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here?" She questioned.

"I was bored, I figured I'd pay you a visit."

"Cute. Now, give me a second, I have to release the kids for lunch."

"Alright guys, put your scissors in the box in the middle, but leave everything else as it is, it's time for lunch." The children obeyed and got their lunch boxes out of their backpacks. "Line up by the front door, unless you want me to help you open something before you head out."

Nicole felt a tug on the sweater she was wearing. She looked down and saw a little girl with green eyes and black hair looking up at her shyly. She was hiding something behind her back. Nicole bent down to her level.

"You need help, sweetheart?" The girl nodded and moved her arms to show Nicole her little bag of veggie chips.

"Will you open this for me, please?" Spoke the girl softly. Nicole's heart burst at the sight of the little girl.

She smiled sweetly and reached out for the bag. She opened it and handed it back to the little girl.

Waverly who watched the interaction with a small, adoring smile on her face called out to the little girl. "Blake, you ready?" She smiled at her.

She girl nodded, said thanks to Nicole, and made her way to the back of the line. "Okay, guys, everyone ready?" They nodded to indicate that they were and they made their made way out to the playground with their teacher.

Nicole waited in the classroom for her girlfriend to come back. Once she did, Waverly walked straight to her and gave her a soft kiss. It didn't last long though because sometimes the kids would walk in to play inside instead.  
"You're good with the kids," Nicole comments as Waverly pulls away.

"Thanks," Waverly respond shyly.

"You wouldn't change your job for anything in the world, would you?"

"No," Waverly stated while sitting on her desk, "Like I told you, these kids, they remind of all that's beautiful in the world, to look at everything with a great wonder. They teach me more than I teach them."

"You must be a terrible teacher, then."

Waverly laughed, "Shut up."

Nicole looked at her with endearment when she laughed, "You're really beautiful, you know?"

Waverly blushed, but responded, "So are you, pretty girl."

Just then, the young girl who'd asked Nicole to help her open her chips walked into the class. Waverly stood up from her desk, "Hey, Blake. You alright, there?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired," she said while rubbing her eye and yawning. Nicole's heart fluttered at the sight.

"You want to take a nap for the remainder of lunch?" Waverly asked the young girl. Blake nodded and the went to the corner of the room where matts lay for whenever the children chose to sleep during recess or lunch.

Blake lied down and both women turned back to each other to continue their conversation, but Nicole did a double take. She walked towards Blake and Waverly eyed her suspiciously. "What are you doing?" She asked.

Nicole ignored her and continued towards the child. She gasped at the sight. When Blake had laid down, her hair had fallen down and exposed the side of her neck. Nicole saw a huge bruise there.

Waverly who had walked to Nicole when she heard her gasp whispered an oh my god when she saw the girl's neck. "Do you think someone did that to her?" She asked the detective.

Nicole sighed sadly and nodded, "Without a doubt."

Waverly looked at her sadly as her eyes filled with tears. "How could anyone do that to a child?"

"Don't worry babe, I'll deal with it," said Nicole. And she did. She would do anything for the black-haired, green-eyed little girl who would eventually become their daughter.  
\----------------

Nicole, who had stayed the rest of Waverly's class because she was that bored, and Waverly drove to Nicole's apartment separately. When they arrived to her home, they simply that on the sofa together and said nothing fro a while. Waverly was seated with legs extended while Nicole lay her head lap, looking up at the brunette.

"What are you thinking about there, babe?" Nicole whispered.

Waverly sighed. "I'm thinking about Blake."

"Don't worry about it. When I get back to the station tomorrow, I'm going to talk to my captain about what I saw. We'll send over Child Protective Services to check up on them."

"Yeah, but what about tonight?"

"There's nothing we can do about that, Waves. I'm sorry," said Nicole sadly. She sat up and pulled Waverly's hair back giving her small, but sweet kisses on her neck and cheek.

"She'll be okay," she whispered.'

"I hope so," said Waverly.

\----------------  
The week after, Waverly was in the children's section at Barnes & Noble searching for books that she could read to her kindergarteners while waiting for Nicole to arrive. They were both craving some new books to read and decided they'd go book shopping together.

Despite what had happened with Blake, both women were happier than ever. The night before, they'd gone to the beach and just looked at stars with fingers intertwined. At one point, Waverly threw her body over Nicole's and she started kissing her passionately until some security guard told them they had to leave the beach.

They laughed the whole way back to the car. When they got back to Waverly's apartment, they took a relaxing bath together, Waverly in between Nicole's legs. But then, Nicole started kissing Waverly's shoulders and it turned into something that wasn't as relaxing, but definitely felt good to them both.

The morning after, Nicole and Waverly woke before they had to get to work and stared at each other for a while, Waverly caressing Nicole's face. They were slowly, but surely falling in love.

Waverly had received a text from Nicole 5 minutes ago saying that she was on her way.

The bookstore didn't have too many people in it and the section that she was wandering in was completely isolated. That is until a blonde walked into the section that she was in.

"Waverly?" asked blonde said in surprise.

"Oh, Elise!" Waverly responded, "Hi, uhh, how you doing?"

"I'm alright, and you?" Elise responded. Elise was also a teacher, but she taught 5th graders and she was looking for a specific book herself that her class had voted for her to read next. _She was looking for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler._

She'd obviously wandered into the wrong section, but she couldn't help but think that she'd been missing Waverly for a while and she just happens to bump into her when making a mistake in the children's section? She thought that it just had to be fate. That there was some higher power that wanted them to end up together.

"I'm great, actually." Waverly replied with a smile on her face. There was an awkward silence afterwards.

"Listen, Elise--" "Look, Waverly--" Both women spoke at the same time. They laughed it off and Waverly said, "It's okay. You can go first."

Elise nodded her and smiled shyly. "I was just going to say that...I missed you. I've actually been thinking about calling you and maybe getting some coffee? I just, well, I thought it would be a good idea to, you know, give _us_ another try. I keep thinking that maybe we gave up too easily, you know?"

Waverly was shocked, but she tried to hide it in order to not hurt the blonde's feelings.

"Look Elise, I miss you too just...not in the way that you miss me. I need to be honest here, though, I actually have a girlfr--"

But Elise didn't hear a word she said. Telling Waverly that she wanted to give them another try out loud made her realize how much she really missed her ex-girlfriend. She was hearing her voice, but not listening to the words that came out of her mouth and it hit her that she had missed hearing her sweet tone speaking to her about how one of her students gave her an apple before lunch, about the times Wynonna had kicked her ass, and their deep conversations that would go on until 3am. She did the only thing she could think of.

She lunged forward at put her lips on Waverly's.

Meanwhile, Waverly's eyes opened wide in shock, but she didn't move. She didn't kiss back, but she hadn't fully processed was going on, so she completely froze. It didn't matter, though. The kiss hadn't lasted that long.

Unfortunately, it was long enough for Nicole to walk in to the section Waverly had told her to meet her in and catch the last second of it.

"Waves?" she spoke in a broken tone.

Waverly completely shoved Elise away. "Nicole, no, I swear it's not what it looks like." But, Nicole didn't want to hear it. All she was thinking was _not again_.

"Nicole!" she heard as she began to run away. Luckily for her, she'd parked her car right in front of the store. She'd spotted Waverly's car more towards the back. She got in, trying to hold in her tears, and drove away quickly. She spotted Waverly coming out of the store as she drove away.

She heard the brunette scream "Wait!" Before exiting the parking lot. While driving she realized that she wasn't as sad as she thought she would be. Instead, she had an anger boiling up inside of her, she wanted to explode. She was angry at herself for allowing herself to open up again. She was mad at Waverly for cheating. She was mad at the universe for always fucking up her life. She was mad at the fact that things were perfect and now it was all going to hell again.

Here she went again. Heartbroken, angry, betrayed, alone. Just like she was nearly 4 months ago. She waited at an intersection waiting for the light to turn green, ready to go home and destroy it. But, last minute, she made a decision she'd never made before. She took an illegal left instead of going right, which almost caused an accident, but it's not like she cared, and she drove to her dad's house.

She knew he'd have alcohol there. 10 minutes later, she shows up to his home and calls out for her father, like she's always done. He's sitting in front of his T.V. drinking. He looks surprised by the unexpected visit from his daughter.

"Hey, there," he begins, slurring his words. "What you doing here?"

"What's the strongest thing you have here to drink?" Jack got up from his couch and walked to a cabinet where he pulled out 2 glasses and a bottle of tequila.

Jack once made a promise to himself that he would never let Nicole drink if there was something wrong, should she be in his presence. He understood that he was an alcoholic, and he loved his daughter a lot, but he couldn't find himself living a sober life anymore, but he didn't want that for Nicole. He knew that she didn't drink because of him, so that's why he made that promise to himself just in case she followed in his footsteps one day when she was morose.

Unfortunately, Jack was drunk. That promise was stored somewhere in his brain and it wasn't going to be accessed anytime soon. That's why he gave Nicole the drink, without thinking twice about it.

He poured 2 shots and handed one of them to Nicole. She took it without any hesitatance, completely tired of the shit in her life, and she drank it straight away, breaking the promise she made to herself 18 years ago. She felt the burn in her throat and she despised it, but she knew that in the end, it'd be worth it. The pain would be gone. She wouldn't think about Waverly. Or so, that's what seemed to happened with her dad and his memory of her mom.

She took 2 more shots, then grabbed a beer and sat down next to her dad on the couch. After 15 minutes, her dad was knocked out and she just stared blankly at the T.V. not paying any attention to it. 'Here I go again,' she thought.  
\------------------  
Waverly was knocking frantically on Nicole's door before thinking that maybe the red-head wasn't home. "Where are you?" She whispered to herself.

She sat with her back to the door, thinking that she would just wait. After 10 minutes, she was getting impatient and thought that maybe Nicole wouldn't be coming back any time soon. She looked up to the sky for a few seconds thinking about where she could've gone and she thought that maybe she could be at the bridge where they first met.

She ran to her car and drove there, but was met with nothing, but a couple walking their dog. 'Stupid couple,' she thought. She ran a few places through her mind that Nicole could be in and all she could come up with was either Xavier's place, or her dad's house. She decided to check out Jack's home first, although she highly doubted that she would go there.

She got to Jack's home and walked up to the front porch and knocked. After not hearing anyone come to the door, she knocked again. She heard footsteps getting closer and saw Nicole as she opened the door. Despite everything, her heart still fluttered at the sight of the taller girl.

Nicole scoffed and went to shut the door, but Waverly stopped it with her foot. "Wait," she forcefully said. "You need to hear me out, Nicole."

"I don't want to hear anything from you right now." Nicole slurred slightly. Waverly was taken back.

"Are you drunk?"

"Yeah. So?"

" _So_? Nicole you don't drink."

"Yeah, well, I do now." Waverly's heart broke knowing that it was her fault that Nicole broke the promise that she made to herself.

"C'mon, Nicole," she extended her hand to her, "let me drive you home."

"No." Nicole stood in place. "Actually, I change my mind. I do want to talk to you."

"Okay..." Waverly said hesitantly as she walked into Jack's home. She looked in the living room and spotted the owner passed out on the couch.

"I should've never trusted you," Nicole started. "I can't believe I fell for that bullshit story of yours. 'I'm not _in_ love with her anymore.' Of course you still love her. When someone looks like that, how you can you not? You were just playing me, ha?

"Have you been seeing her the whole goddam time we were dating? Jesus, I don't even know what to believe anymore, I--"

"Nicole, STOP!" Waverly yelled." Everything between me and you was real, is real. It was never a game with you, Nicole. Get it through your brain that you mean something to me. I don't have any feeling for Elise, whatsoever. I haven't for months, and you fucking know that."

"Do I, though? Why should I believe you?" She questioned, anger still occupying a place in her heart. "Just get out of my house, we're done, Waverly. You and I are done."

"Nicole, please," Waverly cried. "Why don't you believe me? Why don't you trust me?"

"I just don't." Something in the way that Nicole said it made her really believe it. So, without saying another word, she turned towards the door and left.

If Nicole were sober, nothing would've changed. The conversation would've gone the exact same way. That's because she truly didn't trust Waverly, well she did, but not 100%. It wasn't Nicole she didn't trust, though. Not exactly. It was the fact that another human being held her heart in their hands. Whether it was Nicole, or anyone else she was dating, that same conversation would've happened eventually.

It wasn't all Nicole's fault, though. She had some deep wounds that were created when she found out that Sarah had cheated on her with her best friend. She didn't even know that they were there. She wouldn't realize it until her hangover was gone the next day, that she had some things she had to work on with herself.   
\------------------  
Nicole woke up the next day the same way she woke up the day after finding out that Sarah was cheating on her, with a pounding headache and a dry mouth. Only this time it wasn't because she'd spend the night crying. It's because she woke up with her first hangover after promising to herself that this would never happen.

Realizing this, she cried into her hands for everything that's ever gone wrong in her life. She cried because she wanted her mom to be there hugging her and giving her advice. She cried because her dad was rarely sober and she just wanted him to be there for her when she needed him. She cried because she broke her promise to herself. She cried because she lost Sarah. She cried because she didn't trust Waverly enough when she should have. She cried because she lost the one person who was giving her her all. She cried because she messed up.

After some minutes, she stood up, made herself some black coffee after drinking 2 Advil pills, and went outside to sit on the bench on the porch. She decided that she wasn't going to cry any longer, she had to do something.

So, she did the thing she always did when she broke up with someone for a stupid reason or when someone broke up with her. She asked herself the 2 questions, including the one she'd never once said yes to.

The thought, 'What do I like about her?'

Nicole likes the way Waverly is always there for her no matter what. She likes that Waverly is strong, yet vulnerable when she wants to be. She's the type of person who cares for everyone and always tries to see the good in everything. Waverly loves her career and she loves her students deeply, wanting nothing but for them to succeed. She likes that she's is unafraid to be herself. She laughs loudly, she kisses passionately, she holds her hand like the wind will blow her away. Hell, she even likes that she turned her into a Marvel fan.

The list could go on and on, but Nicole knew she'd just be stalling for the final question. The question that mattered. 'Do you want to fight for her?' She finally asked herself.

She thought for a while, knowing her answer from the second she asked herself, but was too afraid to admit it. But, she knew she couldn't let someone like Waverly go, so she whispered to herself out on the porch while a light rain started to fall, " _Yes_."

With her mind made up she ran quickly inside where her dad was still sleeping. He wouldn't remember what happened with his daughter when he awoke. She put her mug of coffee in the sink and then got to her car and drove home to get ready. She wasn't going to fight for Waverly with the smell of tequila on her breath.

Once she got home, she got ready as fast as possible and drove to Waverly's. She knocked on her front door, completely terrified of what was going to happen next.

 


	7. Do You Want to Fight For Her? (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit gets crazy next chapter btw......
> 
> Happy reading!!

Waverly was lying on her large bed holding her head creating the shape of 2 triangles with her arms. She was looking at the ceiling trying to make out the shapes that the white wall created. There were wrinkles in between her eyebrows as she thought about everything that happened last night. Nicole assumed that she had cheated on her, and then she bluntly stated that she didn't trust her. That's the thing that hurt Waverly the most, knowing that her girlfriend, _ex-girlfriend_ she corrected herself, didn't trust her.

Waverly understood why. Her fiancé cheated on her with her best friend. It's hard to trust people after you've been hurt by someone that meant the world to you, let alone 2. However, just because she understood, didn't mean that the ache in her chest vanished.

If she was being honest, she didn't believe that her and Nicole were done. They were good together, they fit. Whether or not that was just hopeful thinking, Waverly didn't know, but she just knew that her and Nicole's journey wasn't over just yet.

Nicole may not trust her the way that she trusts her, but that's not nothing they can't work on together. She knows in her heart that Nicole's just not trusting her because of what happened, not because she truly distrusts her. However, if Nicole does want to get back together, it's _her_ fight, not Waverly's. Waverly isn't going to go to her to and beg for her to take her back because frankly, she didn't do anything wrong. She wasn't--

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a knock on the door. She groaned and got up despite all of her laziness and opened it up to the woman who was occupying her thoughts.

\---------------

Nicole knocked on Waverly's front door, completely terrified of what was going to happen next. A few seconds passed, which felt like hours to Nicole, and the brunette opened the door and Nicole noticed that she didn't look as bad as she thought she would. She assumed that Waverly's eyes would be red and puffy and that she'd look like complete shit, but she didn't. She actually looked good. Should she be offended?

She shook it off when she remembered that the girl she was trying to get back was staring at her expectedly. "Hi," she said softly.

"Hey," Nicole responded as she opened the door wide for her to walk in. They settled on the couch on different ends, not wanting to touch just yet.

Nicole looked at Waverly and sighed. "I'm sorry, Nicole. I'm sorry for running out on you without listening to your explanation and for assuming something really stupid. I'm sorry for everything that I said to you last night when I was...when I was drunk," she looked down ashamed, then lifted her head again after taking a breath. "But mostly, I'm sorry because I said I didn't trust you."

"Nicole, you don't need to apologize for not trusting me, it's like apologizing for being sad, for _feeling_. It's okay that you don't trust me the way that I trust you."

"No, Waverly. Don't think that I don't trust you, I do. I feel safe when I'm around you, like a bullet couldn't hurt me if a shot was fired. I know that you will always be there for me if I need you, even if you're miles and miles away. It's just that, I have trouble trusting whether or not someday you'll break my heart, like I felt you did yesterday."

Waverly's heart broke at that. "I'm sorry about that."

"No, you have nothing to apologize for. Like you said, I _do_ know that you don't have any feelings for Elise. Which is why I know that you didn't initiate the kiss and that you didn't kiss her back." Waverly nodded to show that she was right.

"So please, Waverly. Don't apologize, okay? I just need to work on trusting that I'll be okay with you and even if one day, you do break my heart, I have to learn to just enjoy now. I can't spend my days breaking up with people because I'm afraid that they'll break my heart first. I can't live with that kind of paranoia. If I'm going to learn to trust anyone and have that person by my side, I want it to be you. So, Waverly Earp. Will you do me the honor of being your girlfriend once again?"

Waverly smiled widely and she lunged forward to give Nicole a tight hug, her head buried in between Nicole's shoulders.

"Of course I still want you to be my girlfriend, you idiot." Nicole laughed at the playful insult.

"I'm sorry," she says again as she kisses Waverly's cheek.

"It's okay, babe. Now, stop apologizing. I'm hear to help you heal, okay? So, don't push me away."

Nicole smiled and nodded. She lifted up her pinky, "I promise."

Waverly giggled. "Dork." She threw herself over girlfriend and they fell to the floor, but they just laughed and she started peppering Nicole's face with kisses while Nicole continued to giggle. She couldn't believe she'd told the shorter girl that it was over last night, biggest mistake she's ever made.

\---------------

William Yates took a deep breath as he fell to the dry grass behind the prison, "Ahh, the sweet smell of freedom," he spoke to himself. He laughed manically as he ran away from the place they had him locked up in for nearly 4 months. Not that he can complain, he was the type of person who always took responsibility for his actions. It was his fault that the got caught, no one else's. Which is why he deserved to have been locked up, for being so goddamn _stupid_.

Besides, having nothing to do helped him be productive in a different manner.

He was ready. Ready to get his hands on the _bitch_ that arrested him. Nicole Haught was engraved into his brain, her face and name invading his thoughts and dreams. He thought up different ways to torture the detective, now Sergeant, but he didn't know that. He made sure to remember the ways that he thought he would enjoy the most. It was all planned out. The only problem know, was figuring out where the hell she was.

\---------------

The usual gang was gathered in Waverly's place celebrating Christmas Eve. They had just finished dinner and they were all stuffed, so they were sitting around the living room talking about different things.

While chatting with Doc, Nicole received a call from an unknown number. She excused herself and walked outside in order to hear better."

"Hello?"

"Hey, Nicole. It's your dad."

"Dad?" She asked in shock. "What um--Where are you calling me from?"

"Before I tell you that, I just want to say a few things first." Nicole nodded, but then remembered her dad couldn't see her so she said okay.

"Don't worry, it's not bad news." Nicole's chest felt lighter after hearing those words, but she was still confused about, well, everything. "I know you're wondering why I'm sober because I know that I haven't been sober on Christmas in the past years." He sounded deeply ashamed at that and Nicole decided to say some words of comfort to him.

"Look, dad--"

"Wait, honey. Let me continue. I know that I haven't been the greatest dad in the world. Why am I lying to myself? I haven't been a good father to you at all, your mom would be disappointed in me, don't interrupt me," he said, knowing that Nicole was about to disagree. "You know it's true."

He took a deep breath and said, "Waverly came by and talked to me 2 days ago."

"What? _Waverly_? Why?" She asked with confusion in her tone.

"She told me what happened. What I let happen." Nicole knew what he was talking about.

"That wasn't your fault dad. I'm an adult, I made the decision to drink myself."

"I know, I know. But, I promised myself that I would never let you do that, you know that. But, that's not the point. The point is that she helped me realize that I had to move on, that I had to be there for you while I still had a chance. Nicole, I'm sorry for everything," he cried. "I loved your mom with everything in me and losing her was the hardest thing that I've had to go through. But, I realize now that I don't want to lose you, too. I don't want to mess up really bad one day that you decide to never speak to me again."

"That will _never_ happen, dad. I promise," She stressed.

"You're too good for this world, Nicole." He smiled, proud of his daughter for the woman that she became despite everything she'd gone through with her mom, him, and Sarah. She could've chosen to take a different path, one full of remorse and drinking. She could've allowed her hardships to bring her down, but now she's a sergeant in the Purgatory Police Department. He couldn't be prouder.

"Can you tell me where you're calling me from now?"

Her dad sighed, "I'm calling you from a rehab center."

"A what?!"

"A rehab center. I admitted myself yesterday, and decided to surprise you today. That's why I'm sober for the first time on Christmas."

"Dad!! That's great news, why didn't you tell me? I would've driven you!" She let out a little scream of excitement and a tear ran down her eyes from the happiness that overtook her. Her dad laughed on the other side of the call. "I'm so happy for you dad and I'm proud. You were really brave to do that."

"Well, it's something you taught me. I have to go now, but Nicole?"

"Yeah, dad?"

"Don't let go of that Waverly of yours. She's a good one."

Nicole's heart fluttered at the thought of the brunette. "I won't dad. I love you. Merry Christmas."

"Love you too, honey. Merry Christmas," and he hung up. In perfect timing, Nicole turned around to Waverly coming out of her home.

"Hey," she said looking a bit worried, "Is everything alright?"

Nicole moved towards Waverly and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Everything's great. I'll explain it all to you later, though. Let's get back inside for now cause it's cold."

The couple walked back inside to join their friends, who were currently drinking beer and congratulating Bobo and Willa.

"What's with all the congratulating?" Nicole questioned.

"Willa and I are getting married," he announced as Willa held up her left hand to show them the ring. "I proposed just last night and we were waiting until you to came back inside, but Willa accidental let it slip, thus the congratulating."

"That's great, guys!" Waverly yelled as she went to hug her friends, Nicole following suit. "I think this deserves a toast," she said as she grabbed a beer. Everyone held up whatever they were drinking, Nicole her mug filled with eggnog that she'd picked up on the coffee table on her way in. "To Bobo and Willa. May their marriage be filled with everlasting happiness."

Everyone bumped drinks and continued on with random conversations. Nicole and Willa started discussing what type of dress she wanted to wear.

"You love her, don't you?" Doc asked in his charming voice to Waverly who was staring at Nicole from the couch.

"Yeah, I do."

"Have you told her?"

"Not yet...."

"Well, why not?" He asked.

"I don't know, I guess I'm scared of how she would react."

"Come on Ms. Earp, you really going to let fear stop you from telling her how you feel. Really?"

Waverly thought about it for a while, then looked at her brother-in-law. "I'll tell her soon."

"You best."

Waverly shoved him playfully.

"Not too hard," Doc said in a sarcastic tone, "I don't want my face to end up on someone's lap."

Waverly shoved him with all of her might, making Doc fall to the floor laughing. Wynonna and Nicole came up to them when they saw what happened, Nicole laughing freely and Wynonna attempting to hold it in.

"Hey!" She jokingly scorned Waverly, "Keep your hands off my husband."

Waverly threw her hands up, laughing as if she hadn't done anything. "Don't worry, dear sister. You're next. After telling him the story of how I fell on my teacher's lap."

"Damn it, Doc! I told you not to tell her I told you!"

"I couldn't resist! It was worth the look on her face." Wynonna pushed him back to the floor as Nicole sat beside Waverly laughing again.

\-------------------

Nicole was lying awake on her side as her arm was wrapped around Waverly's waist. She was thinking about the great time she had last night and about the news her dad gave her. She had shared the news with Waverly once everyone had left at around midnight. She didn't forget to thank her for heading over to her dad's, it meant the world to her.

She felt Waverly stir and roll over to face her. She stared sleepily at Nicole. "Good morning," she said in a raspy voice.

"Morning, pretty girl," Nicole said as she caressed Waverly's face. "Get up now, so I can give you your gift."

Waverly groaned jokingly, "Too tired. Must sleep," she spoke as she buried herself in Nicole's warm neck.

"Fine. Just 5 more minutes," Nicole said giving in to Waverly's cuteness. 5 minutes passed by and Nicole got up with no warning. She laughed at Waverly's annoyed face.

"Why would you tortured me like that?" She asked dramatically.

"C'mon! I'm excited for you to see your gift."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," She told Nicole who was already walking to the living room where the gifts were under the tree. They'd both gotten each other 3 gifts. Once settled on the floor beside the tree, they opened their less serious gifts first.

Nicole had received a crewneck with Harry Potter glasses on them, sporting also the famous scar, and the final book of the Mr. Mercedes trilogy that had just gotten released. Nicole was ecstatic to begin the read about her favorite detective.

Waverly had gotten a water color painted Wolverine poster and a mug that read _Tears of my students_ , which she laughed loudly at knowing that her students would find it funny, too.

Once those gifts were given, Waverly took out a velvet rectangular box for Nicole and handed it to her. Nicole gasped when she opened it. It was a small heart with diamonds on one side of it. "Waves, it's beautiful," she said in shock. She bent forward and kissed her softly, "Thank you," she spoke softly with a smile on her face.

Nicole had gotten Waverly jewelry, too. However, Waverly received a bracelet instead. Waverly also gasped when she saw the rose gold rose on the bracelet. Nicole had remembered that Waverly once told her that even though it was cliché of her, her favorite flower was a rose. She bent forward and hugged Nicole, then whispered a thank you into her ear.

Waverly helped Nicole put on her necklace, then kissed her neck before leading her into the bedroom to celebrate some more, in a different way.

\------------

Nicole and Waverly sat next to each other each enjoying an ice cream cone, Cookie Dough for Nicole and Cookies n' Cream for Waverly. New Year's Eve had come and gone, the couple sharing a midnight kiss just as every other couple in the world did while they were surrounded with friends at Doc and Wynonna's place.

They were currently sitting on the bench in front of the ice scream store in between a souvenir shop and a Subway that was facing the beach. It was winter, but it was an oddly warm day in Purgatory and everyone was taking advantage, so the beach was filled.

They were staring out thinking about their own individual lives. Waverly's mind was consumed by Blake, who was still attending her class, but was now living in a foster home. Nicole herself had checked out the family to see if she was safe there, for Waverly's sake, and was glad to know that she was. Unfortunately, she also found out that the family would only allow her to stay for 2 years. She couldn't help, but feel bad for the young girl.

She herself knew what it was like to not have parents that loved you. After the 2 years, who knows what would happen? It's not like Nicole could keep tabs on her until she was a legal adult. She sighed, and moved her thoughts to other random topics.

Meanwhile, Nicole was thinking about William Yates, ever since she had found out that he had escaped 2 weeks ago, she was afraid not for herself, but for whoever his next victim would be. The women he had captured went through a crazy amount of torture and she wanted to stop him again before he could do it again. Unfortunately, no one knows where he went or what he's up to. He could be anywhere in the world right now. She vaguely wondered if he'd want to go after her considering she was the was who caught and arrested him.

"What you thinking about, love?" Waverly asked Nicole. Nicole, who was throwing in the last of her cone into her mouth, gave Waverly a reassuring smile and shook her head.

"Nothing much," she replied. She didn't want to worry Waverly. Besides what are the odds of a well-known criminal on the loose figuring out where Nicole lived?

"Want to walk around for a bit?"

"Let's do it," Nicole stated while getting up and brushing off the dust from the wooden bench off her butt and thighs. She intertwined her fingers with Waverly's as they walked towards the beach to walk by the edge of the water.

"What are you laughing at, weirdo?" Nicole asked Waverly after a few minutes who had randomly giggled, then smiled softly.

"I just remembered that one time when I was 7, I was running around in the water and a wave that was rather large for someone of my age and height, came out of nowhere and it completely went over me. Because it was really powerful, I ended up falling and all I could remember was not being able to take a breath because I was underwater. In reality, it all happened in the span of about 20 seconds, but I thought I was under there for hours.

"When I stuck my head out of the water, I was crying loudly and my parents ran over to me to check why I was crying. Obviously, they were worried, but when I told them what happened I could see that they were trying to hold in laughter. I got furious with them and started yelling that I could've died," Waverly laughed. "I genuinely believed that I was going to die.

"And it just led to me thinking about how dramatic we can be sometimes. We let the smallest things, like that wave, seem like they're 10x bigger and more powerful than they really are. We complicate things that really shouldn't be complicated. We're really dramatic, just like I was being when I was 7, you know?" Nicole nodded in agreement.

"Even though we have all of these circumstances making our lives difficult, we make our own lives even more complicated, when we should just chase our dreams without a care in the world and say the things we feel easily and without worry." Waverly stopped abruptly and stood in front of Nicole. She moved a hair that was flying in front of her face behind her ear.

"What are you trying to say?" Nicole asked softly, her heart speeding up.

Waverly moved towards Nicole's ear and whispered, "I'm trying to say that I love you." She then moved to face Nicole again and smiled, not worried whether Nicole would say it back because it wasn't about that. This was was about her letting Nicole know how she felt about her.

Nicole stared at Waverly with wonder in her eyes. She then smiled widely feeling an childish joy within her and kissed Waverly, trying to show that she shared her love. The kiss didn't last too long though, both women were aware that they were still in public and not everyone was a fan of PDA. Nicole pulled apart and she said back, with a confidence in her voice, "I love you too, Waverly," and Waverly's heart could've burst of joy right then and there as could William Yates' heart, for he had just discovered that the the one and only Nicole Haught lived in Purgatory.


	8. She Kicked His Ass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I updated so late, I've been trying to get it all right. I'm almost finished with the penultimate chapter and I'm BEYOND excited for you guys to read it.
> 
> Happy reading!!

William was looking at a short women with long brown hair walking down the sidewalk with a small smile on her face. "Aww, how cute," he creepily talked to himself, "She's probably thinking about that _bitch_  Nicole."

He had prepared for this. After a couple of weeks of searching for the detective, he was finally ready for his revenge. His life was looking up and _he_ was in control again. Not the bully's in school, not his terrible parents that he still loved greatly, and not the guards in the prison.

At this point, however, his past didn't matter too much. He was all for looking forward, looking at the bright (red) future ahead of him. It didn't matter that his dad beat him and that his mom was a prostitute. They were terrible people, no doubt about that. But, he found that he was also grateful for their loveless parenting because if it weren't for that, he'd never have the hatred and anger that permanently lives inside of him. No anger meant no monster. No monster meant no kidnaps. No kidnaps meant no control. No control meant that he was back to being the pathetic freak he'd been most of his life.

So, he was eternally grateful for his shitty parents. They supplied him with power.

He was good at what he did...what he was about to do. He always made sure to clean up after himself and make sure that no evidence was left behind. The only reason that Detective Nicole had caught him about 6 months ago was because he got a call while he was working on one of his women. He was about to kill-- well the woman he was currently working with was about to kill herself, when he got a call from the hospital saying that his mother had gotten into an accident, a bad one.

The man who'd _bought_ her services for the evening was drunk and his mom didn't realize it. Thankfully, she didn't die. But, the man did. Oh yes, he died a terrible death, but not at the accident.

William took care of the man whose name was Allen Walker himself, thinking it was only fit he die at his hands considering his own mother almost died in his. The man died through ways worse than anything William had done so far, but he had fun. Let's just say that he dumped his body parts far into the ocean where no one would ever find him last week. It had done enough to quench his thirst after not having done something quite like it in almost half a year, but it wasn't enough. It didn't give him the satisfaction that his usual routine did. Which is why he was so desperate for the brunette. He was having withdrawals.

Anyway, because of the call, he was forced to finish off with the woman quicker than usual and he supposes that he left some sort of evidence that led the detective to discover that it was him because of his messiness that time. He didn't have time to clean as thoroughly as he usually did. But, it doesn't matter _how_ he was caught, what matters is that he was. And it's all because of Nicole Haught.

He'd found out all about the detective that caught him and knew that she lived in Purgatory. He'd been stalking her for about 2 days now. She was completely unaware of it. One day, however, he saw something that made him more excited than he's been since his escape. While following Nicole, he saw that she was walking down the street holding hands with a short brunette.

To William, the pain was always more entertaining than the actual kill. He was originally planning on killing Nicole, but he knew instantly that getting his revenge through the brunette would hurt her a lot more. He was always really good at reading people considering he didn't have any friends in high school and only spent his days observing his peers, which is why he could instantly tell that Nicole really cared for the woman her hands were interlocked with.

'Yes, it's settled," William thought to himself. He would kill the woman the detective was in love with.

He watched the brunette from his rear view mirror of his black van, well now it was his (it belonged to man named Parker Gray yesterday). He was parked under an overpass and the street was empty, no sign of life near by, which is exactly what he wanted. Must be his lucky day. When he noticed that she was nearing his car, he exited the vehicle and put a friendly smile on his face.

Waverly was walking to meet Nicole at some sandwich place they'd been wanting to try for a while for a late lunch when she got a call from Nicole right before she got near the van that she hadn't noticed yet. She reached into her pocket and took out her earphones before responding (Putting her iPhone to her ear made her ear hurt).

Nicole was calling Waverly because she received a call from work telling her that William Yates, who had escaped from prison 4 weeks ago now, had been spotted in Purgatory. She wasn't a fool, she knew exactly what that meant. He was looking for her, the woman that caught him. She was going to suggest to Waverly that they should get out of the city for a while for their own safety. She could use a vacation with her girlfriend anyway. She could've waited for the woman to arrive to tell her, but something told her that she should call now. She finally heard the woman answer, "Hey, babe. Why you calling me?" Waverly begins with curiousness.

Waverly was right next to the van at that point.

The second after Waverly says those words, Nicole hears an all too familiar voice that sends chills up her spine.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I'm sorry to disturb you, but would you by any chance be willing to help me fix my tire?"

Nicole froze. He'd found her already. He found her and he somehow figured out that Waverly was special to her. She screwed her head back on instantly, understanding that the woman that she desperately loved was know in the presence of one of the most-wanted criminals in the country. "Waverly, don't ask questions. I need you to run," she said in the calmest voice she could muster up in order to not frighten Waverly too much.

Waverly knew all about William Yates. Nicole had told her the story of the murderer before she told her what had happened the day she returned from Miami with her ex-fiancé. But it was too late. Waverly heard Nicole's words and then realized what the man had asked her to do. She knew that that was how he lured his victims. She grew terrified, and didn't move quickly enough.

William called out the woman and 2 seconds later, he saw fear wash over her features. She recognized him. 'Stupid fucking media,' he thought. Luckily for him, the woman's fear took over her for a split second and she froze. That was all the time he needed. He took a few quick steps behind her and took out the rag that was in his back pocket which was soaked in chloroform and extended his arm around Waverly's head to put it over her face.

He was definitely _not_ expecting what came next. He was expecting what always happened. She was to faint, her legs would loosen, and her head would fall onto his shoulders. Then, he'd carry her bridle style over the threshold that was the car door. Sometimes he even hummed _Here Comes the Bride_ as he carried the women into his car.

Waverly saw him move towards her quickly and the reality of situation flooded in. There was no time for fear. She quickly and easily remembered his next move, thanks to Nicole once again, and held her breath.

She felt the rag on her face and she did what any woman would first think of doing to a male. She lifted her right leg and brought it down hard, kicking him in the part that she'd never been a fan of. When he bent forward and let go, she turned to face him, grabbed his head and brought it down meeting it halfway with her knee and kneed him in the nose which automatically cracked and released a splurge of blood.

While he's caught off guard, she gives him a big kick to the chest like she'd turned into Bruce Lee and he falls to the floor. Finally, as he's on the floor groaning and moving his hands in between his legs and his nose trying to ease the pain, she give him one final kick as hard as she can in the ribs and then she literally _runs_ for her fucking life.

Meanwhile, Waverly's phone and earphones had fallen onto the floor, and obviously she left them behind. However, the phone call was still going on and all Nicole was able to hear was a struggle, and Waverly wasn't talking to her anymore, and her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking as she ran down the sidewalk looking desperately for her girlfriend. She was scared to death and thinking, 'Is Waverly okay? Did he beat her? Take her?'

Waverly ran down the sidewalk, looking for someone, _anyone_ to save her. She needed Nicole. She needed to be in her safe arms. She chokes back a sob and her eyes started getting blurry with tears, as the fact that she was just about to be taken by an insane murderer kicked in, but she keeps on running. As she turns the corner, she bring her arms up to wipe a tear that had fallen and she bumps into someone.

She lifts her head and she jumps back afraid that somehow William was there in front of her, ready for round 2. But, she stops for a second when she says the person that she was looking for. Relief washes over her and she jumps forward into Nicole's arms, reveling in the warmth and safety that the lieutenant held.

She's sobbing in the space between Nicole's shoulder and neck and all Nicole can do is hold her tight and whisper in her ear that she's safe and that she's okay. She herself starts crying from the relief she felt.

She unlocked herself from Waverly, but still making sure to keep an arm around her and she started leading her back to her car, which was parked in front of the sandwich place they were supposed to meet at.

Nicole couldn't help but let her mind wander to William. It really sounded like Waverly kicked his ass, so he could still be lying on the floor somewhere, but she knew she couldn't just leave Waverly behind to go chase after him. It didn't matter, though. It was just wishful thinking. William Yates was no idiot. She knew that the possibility of him still lying on the floor was slim to none. A fire lit in her soul as she thought about him attempting to take her girlfriend. Waverly didn't notice the fury in Nicole's eyes. Her crying had stopped, but she was still shaking.

Neither of them were hungry anymore, but Nicole knew that they would be later, so she told Waverly to wait in the car for her. After some protesting, Waverly walked into Nicole's car and locked the doors. Her eyes never stopped wandering over the people that were walking by the car minding their own business. She knew deep inside that William wouldn't show up again right now, in front of people and take her, but her rational thinking wasn't what she was paying attention to at the moment.

Nicole walked back to the car holding a bag that contained the sandwiches and she drove them back to her place. They drove under the overpass and Nicole spotted something on the cement: blood and and earphones plugged into an iPhone. No William. She stopped for a moment. "This is where he attacked you?" She asked hesitantly. Waverly nodded in confirmation.

Nicole parked next to the curb and got off in order to pick up Waverly's phone. She kept it on her lap as she drove home considering Waverly wasn't paying any attention to anything.

Waverly holds her hand tight on her way to Nicole's door, finally releasing it when she sets her foot in the place. She takes a seat on the couch, placing her hands over her face and takes deep breaths. Nicole lets her do that as she sits another couch to give Waverly some space to breathe. Waverly starts whispering, "I'm safe. I'm okay. I'm safe. I'm okay," over and over again until she looks up 10 minutes later at Nicole. "You can come and hold me now," she says with a small smile on my face and big puffy eyes. Nicole emulates it and goes to sit with the brunette.

Waverly lays her head on Nicole's lap as she sits down and Nicole starts playing with her hair, her other arm hanging lazily on Waverly's body. "Are you okay?" Nicole whispers to the shorter girl, wondering what was going on in her pretty little mind.

"I'm fine," Waverly states. "I was just shaken up-- I mean, I was almost taken. By a  _serial killer_. A very fucking crazy serial killer," Waverly states, feeling a bit shocked at what just came out of her mouth.

"I know, babe. I'm so sorry," she hugged Waverly tightly. "This is my fault if--"

"What? How is this your fault?"

"I called you _because_ of William Yates. Xavier had called me while I was waiting for you at the shop to tell me that he was spotted in Purgatory. Obviously, he wants revenge for arresting him. I guess somehow he found out that you meant something to me," she shook her head in disbelief. "I'm sorry, I should've called faster or something," she says again.

"Nicole, this isn't your fault at all. How could you have known any of this was going to happen? Don't blame yourself, okay? _This isn't your fault_ ," she ends firmly.

Nicole sighs, "Yeah, okay," she smiles softly at her girlfriend. "I'm just glad your okay. Well, more than okay. Look at you," she begins proudly, "not even a scratch on your pretty face!"

"Hey! Just because you're a cop and I'm a simple teacher does not mean that I am not equally as badass," Waverly says.

"You are completely correct, Ms. Earp," she smiled widely. "Who knew?"

Waverly grabs a pillow and smacks Nicole on the face.

After the laughter dies down, Nicole asks," But really, how did you manage to kick his ass?"

"I take a self-defense class every couple of years to refresh my memory. I was hoping to never actually use what I learned, but I guess it paid off." Nicole smiled in response.

"Unfortunately, we're going to have to go down to the station tomorrow babe, and tell them what went down. You're going to have to give a written statement, and they're going to ask a lot of questions."

Waverly groaned, "Can't we just do it right now?"

"You want to do it now?" Nicole asked shocked. "We can wait--"

"No, Nicole. We can't. He's out there on the loose. I mean, who knows what he's going to do next?" She asked horrified.

Nicole nodded. "Alright then, let's go." She grabbed her keys and they drove to the station.

"Hey, Nicole." Xavier said as Nicole walked in holding Waverly's hand. "What are you guys doing here? Everything good?"

"No, actually," Nicole sighs. "Where's the cap?"

"He's in his office....why?"

"Just come with me," Nicole ends.

After knocking twice on the captain's door he yells for them to come in.

"Lieutenant, detective," he says firmly, "..uhh--"

"Waverly Earp, sir," she smiles shyly, looking kind of intimated by the man who sat behind the desk sporting a desk name plate with the engraved name of "Beau Smith."

"Good to meet you Ms. Earp," he got up to shake her hand. "I'm Captain Smith, what can I help you with?" He asks leaning against his desk, arms crossed.

"Captain," Nicole began seriously, "Waverly was just attacked my William Yates."

That got the captains attention. "What?" He asked. "Why didn't you begin with that? When did this happen?"

"This happened about an hour and a half ago," Nicole said, knowing what he would say next.

"And you're _just_ reporting to us now?" He asked in a strict tone. "We could've possible caught him if you had called right away. What were you thinking?"

"I know, sir, it was stupid and I'm sorry, but my girlfriend was attacked! If your wife was in the same position, I'm sure you would've comforted her first, not call us. Besides," Nicole says, "Waverly didn't get a good look at the car. All she knows is that it was a large black van with one sliding door. She didn't get a look at the plate."

The captain's face softened at the mention of his wife. "And you're sure it was him?" He asked now looking at Waverly.

Waverly nodded, "Positive, sir."

"I have proof, too," Nicole states. "I was on the phone with Waverly when she was attacked. I recognized his voice. Plus, he used the same pick up line he always does."

"Help me fix my tires?" The captain questioned. Nicole nodded again. He looked at her hard, thinking. "Ms. Earp, may I ask, you said you were attacked, yet you stand here looking perfectly fine. How did you manage to get out of his grasp?"

"I uhh--well, I beat him."

"You what?" Xavier asks, finally jumping into the conversation.

"I kicked him, and broke his nose." She stated, now realizing how badass that really was.

"You beat him," Beau confirmed.

"She kicked his ass, captain." Nicole said with a smug look on her face and in a tone that showed how proud she was of her girlfriend.

Beau gave an chuckle of disbelief. "Impressive," he concludes. "Now, as you heard what went on, Lieutenant. I'm going to need a written statement from you, too. So-- well, you know what to do. Lead Ms. Earp to the conference room, please."

Nicole nodded and followed his orders as she heard him tell Xavier to search for any reports of a stolen black van in the past 24 hours. After another hour, both woman were able to go back home. "Can I stay with you tonight?" Waverly asked Nicole.

"Of course, pretty girl. You want to binge-watch Pretty Little Liars?" She asked.

"Hell yes," Waverly responded as her stomach growled.

Nicole laughed, "Good thing I bought those sandwiches."

\-----------------

William was groaning in his black van which was parked in the middle of nowhere as he tried to snap his nose back into it's original position. "That _bitch!!_ Who does she think she is bullying me and kicking me around like I'm nothing but a pest," he yelled to no one in irritation. "I'm gonna get her alright," he whispered. "I'm not done with you yet, you pretty little brunette." He giggled high and maliciously.

He looked at himself through the review mirror. He had managed to stop the bleeding, but his chin and white t-shirt were still covered in dry blood. He also had a large bruise forming on his stomach, thankfully the brunette hadn't broken his rib, but he would need to wait for it to heal until he tried to take her again. There was one thing that was really bothering him though, and that's the fact that he had never gotten the brunette's name. 'What a pity', he thought.

He was disappointed in himself for thinking that this job would be as simple as the rest. Ever since the detective arrested him, obviously the news had spread and everyone knew how he looked and what he would say to the woman before he'd capture them. He hadn't thought it all through, thus the ass beating. He accepted his defeat and thought about how he could prepare for round 2. He was going to capture her if it was the last thing he ever did.

\-----------------

Nicole and Waverly were in Nicole's apartment playing Speed with a deck of poker cards on the coffee table. Captain Smith recommended that they live together for the next weeks or possible months that it took to find William. Not only would less cops have to be patrolling, but if anything happened, Waverly had Nicole to protect her, too. No one knew if William would specifically go after her again, or try with Nicole the next time, but they weren't going to take any risks. The girlfriends offered no sign of opposing and Waverly decided to stay at Nicole's. They were planning on staying instead in a hotel, but they knew that it would only stall William for an hour before he found out where they were again, plus he wouldn't hesitate on hurting random strangers that were in his way. So, all in all, it was just a bad idea.

There would be 2 cops parked outside of Nicole's apartment 24/7, the cops assigned would be rotating after 6 hours. If they wanted to go out, the 2 cops would have to follow them around. It annoyed Nicole way more than it annoyed Waverly because Nicole was a detective. She could protect them both herself. That's why she preferred to stay in her apartment the past 2 weeks, eating take out and playing board games, and what not.

She didn't like have 2 cops stalking her.

"HA!" Nicole screamed in Waverly's face. "Won again," she said in a cocky voice. She had beat Waverly all 5 times that they'd played.

"Bullshit."

"Nope, but we can play that to if you want. My poker face is the best of the best, I could win another game."

Waverly glared at her. "You're just getting lucky. My cards are complete shit."

"Sorry, honey, but you just gotta accept the fact that it's not your cards, you're just too slow."

The second she said those words, she felt a body collide with hers. "Too slow, ha?" Waverly whispered seductively into her ear as she lay her body on Nicole's.

"I take it back?" Nicole said hesitantly.

"Mhm," Waverly said as she bent her head lower to crash her lips upon Nicole's.

They had shared an abundance of kisses by now, but their stomachs still flipped and they just seemed to transfer more and more love with every kiss. But, both had agreed that nothing would ever beat their first kiss. There was a longing in that kiss that they would never be able to re-do, it was passionate, yet tender, and it was perfect.

Waverly pinned Nicole's hands behind her head as she interlocked their hands. She ran her tongue across Nicole's lower lip and Nicole opened her mouth wide and allowed Waverly to explore her mouth.

Waverly pulled back after a while to breathe and she looked at Nicole straight in the eyes and smiled widely.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Nicole asked.

"I just really love you, you know that? You make incredibly happy and even though this shit is happening with William Yates, I wouldn't trade this for the world.

Nicole looked at her with love in her eyes. She picked her head up to kiss Waverly, who was still lying on top of her, "You're one of a kind, Waverly."

Waverly blushed at the compliment. No one had ever told her that before. She gave Nicole a final soft kiss and got up. She extended her hand to help Nicole up.

"Oh hey, Nicole, how's you're dad doing? I forgot to ask you yesterday," Waverly asked as she walked into the kitchen to grab a snack.

"He's doing great!" She said proudly. "I didn't tell him what's going on here, though. I mean, I don't want to worry him, not when he's doing so well, and then have him come down and leave the rehab center just because of me. I would regret it, I know it," she paused. "Do you think that was a good idea? I feel like I'm lying to him somehow." She asked her girlfriend walking as she walked up to the kitchen table.

"Definitely. There's no need to worry him, and you're technically not lying about anything. I mean, you see the way Wynonna's reacting, you know? I think it's a good idea to just keep your dad in the dark right now. Besides, we'll be fine. You can fill him in after." As if one cue, her phone starts ringing and she picks it up to check who it is. "See?" She asks Nicole showing her her phone screen, "Wynonna." She answers her phone and she's automatically bombarded with questions again.

The day after William attacked Waverly, her and Nicole had gone over to Wynonna and Doc's place and told them what had happened. Wynonna was now worried sick and she called Waverly almost everyday to make sure that she was fine. Doc kept trying to stop her, but it was no use.

"Okay, tell Lili I said I miss her, okay? Alright. Bye." Waverly hung up the phone on her sister after a few minutes and picks up her crackers from the counter to go sit with her girlfriend on the table.

"How's she doing?" Nicole asks, shuffling the cards to play another round.

"Same as yesterday... and the day before, and the day before that..." Waverly says a little annoyed.

Nicole chuckled. "She's just worried about you, babe."

"I know, but it's been 2 weeks and nothing has happened, she should know that I'm always going to answer. I'm fine, you're fine, everyone's fine," she proclaimed.

Until one day, she wasn't. And Wynonna called Nicole instead, wondering why her sister wasn't answering her phone. But Nicole wasn't answering either.


	9. In The End It'll All Be Okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I hope your day's going great!
> 
> Happy reading!!
> 
> P.S. Let me know how felt about this chapter...I'm curious

The fan above was turning, but it wasn't on. The ceiling was spinning away, creating a show of endless swirls. For the third time, Nicole brought her hand up to her head to ease the pounding as she became aware of the dryness in her mouth. Only this time it wasn't because she'd woken up after crying too much, or because she was hungover. But, she couldn't really remember what had happened. Why did it feel like she was back to being 5-years-old, spinning and spinning as her mother pushed her on the playground roundabout?

She turned her head to look beside her, knowing that Waverly would be right there sleeping peacefully with her mouth slightly open and eyes fluttering as dreams invaded her sleep. But when she looked beside her and saw sheets that the weren't half on the floor and a pillow that wasn't sunk in, the memories of last night came rushing back to her. Shrill laughter, the sound of something being zipped, fast breaths, a door slam. And a split second view of the girl she loved being carried away, like a newly-wed bride, over the threshold that was her bedroom door.

She laughed manically, it was a laugh that portrayed nothing but fear. She tried to get up, but it only made her dizzier. She dropped her head onto the pillow and she fell asleep again. She wakes up 5 minutes later to a dream-like Waverly right next her, leaning her head on her hand, staring at her lovingly. She smiles softly down at Nicole before her eyes close again. Another few minutes pass and this time she opens her brown eyes to nothing, but red. There's blood smeared on the walls, the bed, and what she can see into the hallway. She screams, but it sounds far away. She passes out again. Another 10 minutes pass by and there's her angelic-looking mother playing with her hair softly and she whispers, "In the end, it'll all be okay." Her dad is there, not paying any attention to his daughter as he sees his wife again after years. They disappear as her eyelids fall over her eyes. The final time she wakes up there's a hole on the ceiling, but you can't see beyond it. It's goes on forever into a pitch black darkness. There are black spiders crawling out of it, seemingly trying to escape a danger frantically. That's when Nicole sits up quickly, gasping. She's sweating and breathing hard and dizzy again because she got up too fast.

"Waverly!" She screams loudly looking at her door, waiting for the shorter girl to appear. "Waverly!" She yells louder, choking back a sob. She gets up and looks outside her bedroom window, where she has a perfect view of the cops patrolling tonight. 'They're still there, so how the fuck did William Yates get in?' She thinks desperately. She slides on her shoes messily and frantically runs outside, just like the spiders. She runs to the cops who are patrolling that night, but stops two thirds of the way when she see's that one of the cops has his eyes closed, and the other's has his eyes open. One would think that the cop in the driver's seat was keeping watch as the other took a quick nap, but as Nicole took steps towards them hesitantly, she sees that both have bullet holes in their foreheads.

She lets out the sob that she'd been trying to hold back as the reality of the situation settles in, the same way it settled into Waverly as William attempted to first capture her a month ago. She falls to the ground on her knees as she cries into her hands for a while, but she knows that she needs to be strong until she can find Waverly. She runs back up to her apartment where she left her cellphone and calls the captain. It's 3:00am, but she knows that Beau always answers his phone despite the time.

"Lieutenant Haught. Is everything alright?"

She hastily says, "Captain, she's gone and they're dead and we need to look for her now and--"

"Nicole!" He never addresses her by her first name. "I need you to slow down and explain to me what happened."

"William! He took Waverly," she said shakily, trying to hold back her tears, reminding herself to keep it together or the Captain wouldn't allow her to work with them if she was an emotional mess. "And the cops, Beau. They're dead."

He didn't respond. She assumed that he was gathering his thoughts. He finally said, "Get down here quickly. I'll have an ambulance pick up the men." She said okay, and ran to the kitchen where she always leaves her car keys. Waverly was the only thing on her mind. She wasn't raised in a religious home, her family never really went to church, so God was never a part of her life. She wasn't even sure if she believed in him, but at this moment she was begging to God for her to be alright. She was asking him to keep her safe, to not let him do the things that he'd done with the other women. Her eyes were looking around, more so than usual, as she drove, thinking that somehow Waverly would appear in the next corner telling her that it was all a joke, that she was alright. Her fingers tapped the steering wheel anxiously as her heart beat hard, making her chest hurt with nervousness.

When she arrived, Xavier and Constance were pulling up in there car too. Beau must've called them. She got out of her car and saw them staring at her with worry in their eyes. She stood still outside of her car, staring at them, screaming for help with her eyes. Xavier understood and he ran up to his friend and hugged her tightly, "We'll find her. I promise," he whispered. Nicole, who was hugging her back, nodded and then pulled away. She grabbed his hand and they walked into the station with Constance, who'd caught up with them.

\----------------

William was parked on the side of the road leading to the abandoned warehouse setting up some cameras that he would be able to see through through his phone. Well, the phone originally belonged to Allen Walker, the man who was drunk driving when his mom was caught, the man that led to him getting caught, if you think about it. The reason he set up cameras was because he couldn't see anything from the warehouse because the road was hidden by trees and bushes, this would catch the cops off guard. He looked over his shoulders to make sure that the short woman was still knocked out. She had awoken, completely delirious, half an hour into the ride, so he had to knock her out again.

He didn't use the chloroform again, though. He did it the old fashioned way--knocked her out with a punch to the face. The bruise was forming nicely. When he saw that she was still sprayed out in the back of the car unconscious, he finished up his work. After he finished with his work, he drove back up to the warehouse. He carried the woman over her shoulder and walked up to the 3rd floor. He let Waverly fall lazily to the floor as he was panting, sweat dripping to the floor. He got the chair in the corner and set it right to the middle and carried the woman once again to it. He tied her up, her head rolling down to her collarbone unconsciously. He was now ready for phase 2, but he thought he would wait a little longer. He liked imagining Nicole Haught freaking out and crying, knowing that she'd be awake by now, worrying for her precious little girlfriend.

He decided to take a quick power nap before starting phase 2. He dreamt about what he had only some hours ago.

\---------------

William had been planning this for the passed 4 weeks, this time going over everything obsessively knowing that everyone knew he was in National City. Plus, he wasn't going to let the red-head win again. He was currently in his black van, the police had been unable to find it because William had threatened Parker Gray's family when he caught him trying to steal it. Knowing who the man was, Gray hadn't reported it stolen. William was just around the corner and his heart started pumping fast from the excitement. This time all would go the way he planned. He cursed when he saw the cop car in sight. He'd known that there was no way the women wouldn't have protection, but there was still a sliver of hope. It didn't matter though, he was prepared for anything. He had a gun and a silencer.

He parked near the apartment, away from the eyes of the cops and got his things ready. He was always good with a gun. It's the only thing his dad ever praised him for, the only thing he loved him for. It was the only time that his dad would say words of encouragement to him and speak to him without yelling and insults, when they'd go hunting. Those were his favorite memories. He was fast, it was his specialty. That's why when walked up to the cops' car, he shot the one in the driver's seat first and then shot the other just as he went to yell. It was easier than he'd expected.

Then, he walked towards Nicole's apartment, his heart pumping, but his hands steady. He opened the door through an old trick: a paper clip. Any idiot could break into a home this way. He opened the door, but it caught with the lock that slides near the top, as luck would have it, he had prepared for that too. He took out his bolt cutter and broke it in half. He flinched at the loud noise it made, so he waited a few minutes to see if he could hear any footsteps, but it was completely silent in the apartment. He walked in silently, and searched for Nicole's bedroom. 'There you are," he thought as he stared at the women sleeping on the same bed together. They were both on their backs in a deep sleep, completely unaware that someone was staring at them by the door.

William started at them in an unsettling manner. He was staring at them as if he were their parent, proud of who they had become, just for him. He straightened his back and went to work. He opened his small sports bag, as quietly as possible, and took out the rag that was pre-soaked in chloroform. He walked up to the one that mattered first--Nicole. He put the rag over her nose, and she awoke alarmed with fear in her eyes, just the way he liked it. She tried to scream, but she was met with the overwhelming need to throw up so she just gagged instead, which meant that she was unable to wake Waverly. Next thing she knows, darkness invades her eyes. William kept the rag on her face for an extra 30 seconds just in case.

Once he was sure that she was knocked out, he moved to Waverly. He moves to the other side of the bed for the girl that he was going to take. He moves the rag to her face and she, like Nicole, wakes up instantly with confusion and fear in her features, she lets out a muffled scream as she realizes who it is. William sees the realization and he giggles evilly. She tries to fight back, but with no success, she succumbs to the darkness. He breathes hard as she picks up her up bridle style and carries her out of the bedroom. He slams the door his way out.

He smiles widely knowing that he had just succeeded in taking the woman the _bitch_ loved.

William awoke about 15 minutes later knowing that it was time. He took the phone out of his pocket and called Detective Haught.

\---------------

Nicole was listening to the Captain speak about how they could find William Yates and what steps they should take when her phone rang loudly and echoed across the room. Her face turned red as she noticed that everyone was looking at her. "Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. She looked down at the number, but she didn't recognize it. Her thoughts automatically went to Waverly and instead of excusing herself from the room, she answered loudly, not caring that she was being rude. "Waverly?" She asked desperately, everyone's eyes still on her. The captain was now paying attention to the Lieutenant fully.

"No, no, Detective Haught. Just the one who has her," says a shrilly voice. Anger flared up in Nicole.

"It's _Lieutenant_ Haught now, Yates," Nicole responded harshly, looking at the Captain who's eyes opened wide. Everybody in the room moved, taking the appropriate steps too record the phone call.

"Hmm... reward for catching one of the most wanted criminals in the country?" He asked with pride, not expecting a response. "Let's make this quick, _Lieutenant_. I have someone you want. Your pretty little girlfriend as you know. Her face is so soft--"

"Get your filthy hands off of her," she said in a strict tone.

William laughed highly in response. "Here's what I want to happen. You come here and I won't hurt your girlfriend-- uhh, what's her name?"

"Like hell I'm going to tell you that."

"Hmm, thought so. As I was saying, you will switch places with her. You will endure everything, the pain, the torture, the _death_ ," Nicole's heart rate increased, "and your friend will not. Once I am done with you, I will let her go. You can trust me. I'm a man of my word," he says proudly. Despite everything, the tone behind his words makes her believe him.

"So, she'll have to watch me die," she confirms.

"Wow! You catch on so fast. No wonder you were promoted," he responds sarcastically.

"What's the catch?" She asks.

"All I ask is that you come alone, if you don't, bad things will happen, Ms. Haught," his malevolent tone sends shivers up her spine.

She looks over at the captain who's listening to everything he was saying. He thinks hard for a few seconds before he nods curtly."Okay. I'll do it."

"I knew you would," and he hung up.

Nicole looked around the room, everyone including Xavier and Constance, staring at her with eyes filled with a mix of pity and determination. She got up from her seat and walked to her captain, there was one question that was raging in her head and she had to know the answer.

"Why would take Waverly if he really wanted me?"

Captain Smith, who was expecting the question answered, "You've got to remember Lieutenant, he feeds off of torture, he revels in it. He feels in power when someone else has feelings of fear and doubt. He wasn't planning on hurting Waverly, but he knew it would cause you pain. That's all that matters, even if he can't see it happening."

Nicole felt that she was going to implode from the fury in her chest. Steam was practically coming out of her ears, then she states in a tone as malevolent as William's, "I'm going to kill that son-of-a-bitch."

Beau Smith was never one for killing, well no on was, but no matter how horrifying someone crimes were, he knew that they had the right to trial just like everyone else. But, this time he states, "I hope you do, Lieutenant."

She nodded at him and asked, "So, what's the plan?"

\-----------------

Waverly let out a groan as she regained consciousness and automatically freaked out when she felt tight ropes around her hands and feet. She opened her eyes to find William Yates glaring down at her with a wide, creepy smile on his face. She tried to contain her fear, not wanting to show him that she was afraid of him, but it was no use because she was really fucking terrified. She looked at him and tried to wriggle out of the hold, the rope burned her wrists, but she wasn't just going to sit there. No matter how afraid she was, she would always keep fighting.

"There's no use, sweetheart," William said, "I tied those suckers myself, and no one so far has managed to escape them."

"I've never been much of a quitter," she said forcefully.

"Ooh, I like you, but there is no need to struggle any longer. You're girlfriend, Lieutenant Nicole Haught, is on her way for you know." Waverly's head snapped up at the mention of her girlfriend.

"What do you mean she's coming?" Waverly asked. William just giggled that infamous giggle of his as a response.

"If all goes well Ms. uhh---"

"Like hell I'm going to tell you that."

William laughed loudly, "That's just what your girlfriend said." He continued to laugh like she'd just said the the funniest joke he's ever heard. "Well, _Ms. Like hell I'm going to tell you that_." He laughed loudly and it bounced off the walls. Waverly rolled her eyes. She'd forgotten that this serial killer was just a kid--only 21-years-old now. Plus, a complete fucking maniac. He cleared his throat and continued seriously, "Your girlfriend is coming to switch places with you."

Waverly's eyes opened wide. "Switch places with me?"

William nodded, "In place for your freedom, Nicole herself will take your place. You see, you're just a coy, someone to cause more pain to the lieutenant for what she did to me. It's Haught I care for, and I knew that she wouldn't hesitate to do what I say, seeing as she really does love you.

"No, no she can't do that. I won't let her."

That flipped a switch in William. "You won't _let her_?" He stared down angrily at the girl. "You seem to have misunderstood something. You don't decide what goes on around here, I'm in control, _not you. I_ decide who does what." He said, his voice becoming more forceful with every word.

Waverly was terrified, she knew that she'd pushed a wrong button with the look of his face She hastily said, "Yes, you're right. I'm sorry. You're in control, I don't know what I was thinking."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to get hurt."

"No, no, I mean it. I really d--" William interrupted her with another blow to the face. He made sure not to knock her out though, knowing that Nicole should almost be arriving. Speaking of almost arriving, he realized that he should be paying attention to his phone now, making sure that she really came alone and not with with extra cops. He thought that she wouldn't, not after he threatened her girlfriend. Nicole knew that it wasn't a false threat. He could do very bad things to her girlfriend.

He walked away from Waverly and sat down in one of the isolated corners. He stared at his phone obsessively, trying not to blink so that he wouldn't miss anything. His eyes were burning and getting watery for the 3 time, when exactly 12 minutes passed by and he saw Nicole arriving in her car.

Excitement bubbled up inside of him and he let out a creepy scream of joy. Then he yelled to Waverly, "She's here! Your girlfriend's here! Do you miss her?" He giggled.

Waverly, who had been peering over at the young maniac who was staring at a cellphone, that she assumed wasn't his, started feeling like her heart might fall out of her chest. 'What was Nicole going to do? Would she help her escape? Did she bring back-up? Is she really going to switch--'

But her thoughts were interrupted when William let out a chilling growl as he threw his phone to the ground, a smattering sound echoed loudly throughout the room. "That _bitch_ ," he screamed. Waverly started freaking out more, 'What happened?' She thought to herself, knowing that it was a bad idea to speak to William, plus she was a bit afraid.

William on the other hand wasn't afraid. He had planned for this just in case. There was no way in hell that he was going to get caught again. There were vents that he could escape from. He wasn't an idiot, he had scoped out the place before hand, just in case. He made sure that there was a way of escaping. However, that didn't stop the rage from rising up within him. He had told Nicole not to bring back-up or else bad things would happen, hadn't he? So, why, he was wondering, were there cop cars behind Nicole? Why were there ambulances trailing along like they owned the place?

I guess it didn't matter right now. He didn't have time to think. Good thing he'd thought about setting up those cameras, Nicole and the rest of her crew were probably not expecting that. A smile grew on his face again because of how proud he was for thinking about setting up them up.

Not wanting to waste any more time, he walks up to his little sports bag and takes out the gun that he used to kill the cops that were patrolling Nicole's apartment and walks up to Waverly's whose face was over washed with a fear she'd never felt in her life. She starts begging, "William. Wait. You don't have to do this."

"Yes, actually, I do. The bitch that is your girlfriend, has ruined my plan. She came with backup after I specifically asked her not to," he yelled angrily. "Someone has to go today and because it can't be her, it needs to be you," and he pulls the trigger without any hesitance.

\------------------

Nicole is getting out of her car when she hears a gun go off. Her heart speeds up and she automatically runs into the warehouse, her eyes wide looking for Waverly. Xavier, Constance, and the Captain right behind her after his attempts at yelling for to stop were futile.

"Waverly!" Nicole yells. "Where are you? Waverly!" She runs up the steps to the second level. The captain yells to the 2 detectives to check it as him and Nicole keep running to the 3rd. Nicole enters the floor as sees Waverly tied to a chair, a pool of blood on the floor, not moving. There are 2 big bruises on her face and her heart breaks.

"Waverly," she yells again as she runs to the spot where her girlfriend lies. But, to Nicole it's all in slow motion. Her yelling her girlfriend's name seems as though it drags on for a full 30 seconds and so does Beau calling for the medics to come up to the 3rd floor. Her run to Waverly lasts 10 minutes, when it reality it took her 5 seconds. She reaches out to grab Waverly's face in between her hands and she lets out a cry, yelling to the medics to hurry up. A flood of relief washes over Nicole as Waverly's eyes flutter lightly to show that she's alive. Nicole bends her ear down to Waverly's mouth when she realized that she's trying to tell her something, "Happy Valentine's Day, my love."

Her heart breaks even more and she moves to her forehead, leaving her a chaste kiss. "You're going to be okay. You're a fighter, Waves. Don't give up on me," Nicole desperately says as reassurance more to herself than to Waverly.

Waverly reassures her and coughs up a, "I never give up," along with blood.

At this point, the medics are working on untying Waverly and getting her on a stretcher when Nicole gets a call from Wynonna. A tear runs down her face, and she ignores the call, not being able to face Waverly's sister. Not yet.

\------------------

Hours later, Nicole, Wynonna, Doc, and Lili are at the hospital in the waiting room waiting to hear from the doctor. Nicole is sitting away from the family. She couldn't believe that she caused this trouble to them. It was all her fault. She should've never befriended Waverly in the first place. If she would've screamed instead of gagged, Waverly would be okay. Why hadn't she heard William come in? She shouldn't have brought back up. He warned her, telling her that something bad would happen. Why didn't she listen to him?

While Nicole is busy blaming herself, Wynonna goes to sit beside her. She could tell by the look in Nicole's eyes that she was blaming herself for what happened to Waverly. She knew that she blamed herself when she isolated herself from her family.

She sat next to the brunette and put an arm around her. "Nicole, she says softly. I know what you're doing. This isn't your fault."

"But it is, I should've paid more attention--"

"To what Nicole? No one knew what that psycho was up to. Stop blaming yourself."

Unfortunately, all other words of comfort were cut short by the doctor arriving to let them know about Waverly.

\------------------

Nicole sat beside Waverly's bed after she let her sister and her family go in. She was sleeping, looking like nothing in the world could ever go wrong. She would be okay, Nicole kept repeating to herself. It was a good shot, no permanent damage. She kept running Wynonna's words through her head, desperately trying to believe them. But, when she'd look at Waverly's face, the burns on her wrist, and the bandage over stomach where she was shot, she'd flinch. It was all because of her.

"Hey," Waverly croaked. Nicole's head snapped up.

"Hey, there. How you feeling?" She asked softly, tears filling her eyes from the happiness she felt and restraining herself from jumping on the girl and hugging her tightly.

Waverly, who could read her eyes and knew that Nicole was blaming herself, ignored her question and said, "I need you to go home and get something for me."

"What?" Nicole was confused. She grabbed Waverly's hand, "I'm not going to leave you."

"Nicole, please. I left something in the drawer beside my side of the bed," Nicole's heart fluttered at the words 'my side of the bed.' "It's a letter. It's your Valentine's Day gift--"

"Waverly, that doesn't matter now," Nicole said a little firmly.

"--I need you to go home, come back, and read it right here, right in front of me," Waverly continued like she hadn't been interrupted. "Please."

The tone behind the words made Nicole get up. "Okay, I'll go. I'll send Wynonna in." Waverly nodded and Nicole left without further argument.

She drove home, ran up to her apartment, and searched for the letter. There it was, in the drawer Waverly said it would be in. Before going back to the hospital though, she went to her drawer and got out a letter that she'd wrote for Waverly too, coincidentally. 'Great minds think alike,' Nicole thought as she drove back to the hospital.

She entered Waverly's room 20 minutes later, and Wynonna and her family left the room to give the girls some privacy. Doc squeezed her shoulder on her way out.

"I got the letter." Nicole said holding it up. "I also got the one I wrote for you."

Waverly smiled. "You wrote me a letter, too?"

Nicole nodded shyly.

"Great minds think alike."

"Hey! That's what I said--or _thought_."

"I want you to read mine first," Waverly said in a serious tone. Nicole looked at her, a little afraid of what she would read, but nodded nonetheless. She took a seat next to Waverly again and opened the letter.

_Nicole,_

_I know that we decided to not buy each other gifts this year because of what's going on with William and what not...Anyway, I couldn't bear not giving you anything on our first Valentine's Day together, so I decided why not a letter? It's old-fashioned I know, but I don't think they'll ever lose it's impact. I mean, people would spend hours writing these to their loved ones just so they could really understand how they felt about them. I think it's a beautiful concept. Thus, this letter._

_It's pretty ironic, though. I can't seem to find the right words to describe the way that I feel about you. I think that this will sum it up nicely: You are everything to me._

_You are my sunshine in the dark, whether it's your smile or the way you look at me, you light up the darkness. You in general are just light. Between your sarcastic comments and the way you look with your Harry Potter jumper, you light up the sky. The great thing about this is that just because you're light, it doesn't mean I'm darkness. You have so much light inside of you that you share it with me and you make me feel like I am light too. You make me feel like I matter, like I mean something and that's not something I could ever repay you for._

_From the night we first met 6 months ago, you told me that you thought I'd be someone special in your life. I never told you this, but I knew too. I knew that we'd grow to be close, I wasn't sure how close at the time, but I knew we'd be friends until we were old. I don't know what it was, but something about you captured my attention like no other._

_Together, we've been through a lot. But, we're fighters aren't we? We can overcome anything, and that's what I love about us. Our ability to just fight no matter what the obstacle is. You make me stronger, you make me feel like I'm unstoppable. Is that a bad or good thing?_

_You make me feel like I'm walking on clouds and even though there's thunder all around me, I know that I'm safe. You have this ability that just makes everyone around you feel comfortable. You don't judge others at first glance (the only person who actually says it and means) and it's beautiful, the way that you give everyone a chance. I don't know many times I've told you this, but you are too good for this world. You bring a peace unlike any other person. You literally light up the room when you walk in._

_I don't know how I ever got so lucky to be with you. But it's something I will never take for granted. You are enticing, and I want to learn everything there is about you. You are captivating, both in and out. Everyone turns their heads when they see you, and those who talk to you just want to learn more because of your heart. You have a big, warm heart and no one wants to miss out on someone like that._

_Thank you, Nicole. For running to me when I say I need you, for making me laugh, for making me feel like I'm home. I can only hope that I make you feel the same way. Happy Valentine's Day. I love you, beautiful._

_Waverly_

_P.S. I bought that Harry Potter sweatshirt one size to big on purpose. I thought you'd look cute._

_P.P.S. I was right._

The paper was now stained with tears as Nicole cried. She re-read it once more and then looked up to Waverly, who gestured for her to get close. Once Nicole did, she dropped her head on Waverly's chest and started sobbing.

"I was afraid. I thought I was going to lose you. I didn't want to. I didn't think that I would hear your voice again. I was so scared," she sobbed trying to get Waverly to understand how terrified she was.

"You read the letter, Nicole. I know you're blaming yourself, I can see it in your eyes. Don't do that to yourself. You make me--"

"I make you feel safe? Even with everything that's going on?" Nicole interrupted. She couldn't believe that her girlfriend still trusted her after everything with William. She actually felt safe, warm, even. It meant more than Waverly would ever know.

"Yes, Nicole. That's why I need you to stop blaming yourself. This wasn't your fault. None of it. You had no idea what was coming. No one did. Promise me you'll stop."

"I promise," Nicole stated firmly, letting Waverly know that she understood how Waverly felt about her.

After a few minutes of comforting and basking in Waverly's warmth, she gets up and picks up her letter from the chair. "Now read yours."

Waverly took the letter from Nicole's hand and unfolded it.

_Waverly,_

_I know, I know. We said that we wouldn't get each other gifts or anything today, but I couldn't help myself! I realized the other day that you mean a lot to me, way more than you probably know, and I can't let that be. I want you to really understand what you mean to me, what your love for me means to me because you deserve that. You deserve to know how you have affected my life in ways I could've never imagined._

_You make me see the world in ways that I've never seen it. Just like the way you say your kindergarteners remind you to look at everything like you've never seen it before, with wonder. You do the same for me. When driving pass the field of flowers I pass by everyday to work, I used to see just grass and flowers, nothing special. Now I drive by, and I get angry if I don't get glance at it because of the cars blocking my view. They tell of something that we need to understand._

_Flowers don't just appear out of thin air, ready to face anything that comes their way. They start off as something that may seem like nothing, but in reality it's everything. From the beginning they accept and understand that their journey is going to be a long one, that they must remain patient through out it all, that eventually they'll get to where they need to be. They go on the journey without complaints, without asking "When, when when?"_

_They grow slowly, but they know that they're growing and that's all that matters. It's not about how much they're growing everyday, it's about the fact that they're growing in general. Eventually through all the teardrops of the clouds, the roars of the sky, and the eyes of the giants that constantly judge them asking "when, when, when?" They turn into something beautiful, but most importantly something they're proud of._

_It was a long journey, but in the end they made it and well, isn't that all that matters? Now they sit there in that large field showing off for everyone to see, reminding us that if something as delicate as them can do it, well then so can we._

_You get my point?_

_Flowers. I just gave you a whole lesson that I learned through flowers. You have taught me to do that. You make see this world in a way that I never have and I'm grateful for that, for YOU. You make want to be more positive, you make me want to smile more and enjoy every breath that I take, you make me want to become better than I am._

_Thank you, not for coming into my life, but for staying in it. I don't know how I managed to live before you came along. It was probably a dark and damp life. Well, whatever. The point is you're an incredible and inspiring woman. I pray to God, or whatever is up there, that this innocence you carry is always there. I hope that smile always stays on your face. I hope your heart stays pure and that you love yourself as much as I love you._

_Because it's true._

_I love you, pretty girl. A lot._

_Nicole_

_P.S. I also may or may not have bought you a pack of your favorite snack. The Oreo cookies are in the cabinet I never open._

Waverly had tears running down her face, overwhelmed by the feeling of love she got from Nicole. She also laughed softly at the last note.

Nicole bent down and kissed Waverly softly after she put the letter down beside her and thanked her. "We'll be alright, won't we Nicole?"

Remembering the hallucination of her mom, she says, "In the end, it'll all be okay."


	10. I Won, Bitches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all SO sorry for not updating in 2 weeks. I literally could not think of anything until yesterday. But, thanks for waiting! I hope this chapter's worth it :-)
> 
> Happy reading!!
> 
> P.S. Your kudos and comments make my days. I'm so thankful for you all and I'm glad you like the story. Y'all are amazing.

Nicole lay in between Waverly's legs, her back against Waverly's chest resting peacefully. Waverly's hand was sliding up and down Nicole arm and she was humming _This Town_. Waverly had a small smile on her face and her eyes were closed as she basked in the comfort that Nicole provided. They had just finished eating some grilled cheese sandwiches and now they were both relaxing. Waverly had to get a substitute for her class for a couple more months and it was kind of killing her. She vaguely wondered how Blake was doing.

The two bruises on her face had faded away and the burns on her wrists had disappeared too. Her bullet wound was (thankfully) almost healed; all she really needed was rest. And Nicole was damn sure that's what she would be getting.

Nicole had been taking care of her and Waverly couldn't be more grateful for her girlfriend. She was by her side most of the time at the hospital which Waverly was the most grateful for because she didn't know if she could've gotten through those nights herself.

More than once she had woken up crying or screaming for Nicole to save her, or for William not to shoot her. It was the scariest thing she'd ever lived through. The thing that frightened her the most though, was the look in William's eyes when he held his gun up to her.

That's the thing she usually dreamt about the most. She'd never seen anything malevolent in her life. Despite the anger she saw in it, she also saw no hesitance and some carelessness. He truly didn't care about her. To him it didn't matter that she was innocent, that she was a person with a family and friends, he didn't care that she was a fucking human being.

He just wanted his goddamn revenge.

They were monstrous eyes and it haunted her sleep. She was sure that she'd wake up dead. She was sure that the night of the capture as Nicole held her head that she'd be the last thing she ever saw, that the last thing she would ever feel was a deep pain in her stomach and Nicole's hands clutching her face.

She was furious knowing that William Yates had almost taken her life and all for some stupid fucking revenge. She clenched her fist tightly, and began to draw blood when she formed the shape of 4 crescent moons on the palm of her hand.

Nicole noticed her change and saw that her had had closed into a fist.

"What you thinking about, Waverly?" Nicole asked as she grabbed Waverly's fist and brought it up to her lips to kiss softly. She did it for a minute or so until Waverly fully unclenched. Nicole flinched when she saw the blood on the palm of her hand and fingers.

It broke Nicole in two knowing what Waverly had gone through. She succeeded most days in not blaming herself for what happened, but other days she couldn't help it when she heard Waverly crying in her sleep. But, she tried not to think about it too much. Waverly needed her and she couldn't spend her time in a world of self-pity. She would do anything to rid of her pain and nightmares.

No one as innocent and beautiful as Waverly deserved what had happened to her. 

"It doesn't matter, Nicole. I'm fine." She shifted her head to look at Nicole and gave her a soft kiss. They both tasted like grilled cheese and they laughed softly. Obviously, she wasn't okay, but Nicole knew better than to push her to talk about it more.

Slowly, but surely she was opening up and telling Nicole what had happened or how she felt. Nicole had to trust that eventually Waverly would open up fully, but meanwhile she just had to wait. A week after Waverly had been dismissed from the hospital, Nicole had asked her some questions and Waverly only snapped in return. She wouldn't do that to her girlfriend again.

"Let me get up real quick, so I can clean your hand," Nicole said.

Waverly nodded in response and lifted her head off of Nicole's chest to let her get the mini first aid kit they kept in their bathroom. Yes, _their_ bathroom. They had officially moved in together the week Waverly was released. However, they chose to live in Waverly's apartment. Neither of them wanted to relive what had happened at Nicole's.

Nicole returned with the first aid kit and cleaned the blood off with a rag, then poured peroxide on her cuts before wrapping her hand in a bandage. The whole time Waverly was sporting an endearing look at how careful the taller woman was being.

"Talk to me," Waverly said once Nicole settled behind her once again.

"What do you want me to talk about?"

Waverly thought for a second, then asked, "When did you first realize you liked girls?"

Nicole laughed recalling the memory. "Well, I was in kindergarten when I first realized I wasn't the same as all the other girls in my class. There were 2 new students in my class one day, twins. A boy and a girl. All the girls were saying that the boy...uhh..What was his name?" Nicole thought.

"Oh, right! Nathaniel. Anyway, they were saying that Nathaniel was cute and that they wanted him to be their boyfriend– yes all of them," Nicole laughed when she saw the look on Waverly's face.

"But me, I wanted to be Rose's friend. I thought _she_  was the pretty one, and I told my friends that. None of us really knew that you could like someone of the same gender, let alone that society thought you shouldn't. So, they just agreed. But, I knew that they didn't agree in the same way that I did."

"Anyway," Nicole continued, "Rose ended up being my first girlfriend."

Waverly looked at her with amusement in her eyes, "No way!"

"Yes way. After making a sand castle during recess that same day in the sandbox, I said, 'Hey, Rose. Do you want to be my girlfriend?' She just shrugged carelessly and said sure."

Waverly laughed that carefree loud laugh that Nicole loved so much. The side of her eyes crinkled and she ended the laugh with a huge smile. It made a warmth spread all over Nicole when she saw her girlfriend so happy.

She had learned to appreciate these moments more after the warehouse incident.

"Here's the crazy part," Nicole continued again.

"It gets crazier?" Waverly asked with sarcastic shock.

"Oh yes," Nicole nodded. "Rose and I actually ended up dating years later."

"No way! Really?" Waverly exclaimed again. This time, however, she was truly shocked.

"Mhm. We started dating freshmen year and broke up towards the end of our sophomore year, when her family moved back to Mexico. We died when we remembered that we were 'girlfriends' in kindergarten after her mom had shown us a picture of us together when we were playing at a park.

"I was only 15, but I was madly in love with her. I was heartbroken after she moved," Nicole said with a small smile on her face.

"Should I be worried?"

Nicole knew she was joking, but she looked down at Waverly and said, "You never have anything to worry about. You're the only one for me, pretty girl."

Waverly's face turned red and she looked down. Nicole would always have that effect on her, probably even when they were old and gray.  
\------------------  
"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything, babe," Nicole responded.

"Why do you blame yourself?"

Nicole was caught off guard, "What?"

"I know you, Nicole. Just like when you know I'm lying when I say that I'm okay. I know that you know I'm not. I know that you refrain yourself from getting me to talk, and I love you for it. But baby, you matter in this relationship too, you know? And I can read you, your eyes say it all. You blame yourself, but you don't allow yourself to think about it. You can talk to me about it."

Nicole stared at her with a blank face, unsure of what to say. She couldn't throw her problems onto her girlfriend. She was already handling so much, it's selfish. Waverly needs her, it's not-- it _shouldn't_  be the other way around right now.

"Nicole," Waverly whispered as she grabbed her face with both hands. "I'm okay. I'm here to take care of you as much as you're here to take care of me. Tell me, please? Why do you keep blaming yourself if you know you couldn't have done anything to prevent what happened?"

Nicole let out a long sigh. "I know that I had promised you at the hospital that I wouldn't blame myself, but it's so hard Waverly. It's hard when I remember what William did to you because of me, because you're in a relationship with the woman who caught him. I blame myself because none of that would've happened if it weren't for me. If it weren't for me giving you my number at the bridge, for asking you to go eat at Panera's, for kissing you on our first date, none of this would've happened to you.

"If I would've just screamed when William put the chloroform over me, if I would've just gotten to you faster, if I would've listened to Yates and showed up to the warehouse all by myself--"

"You would've been dead, Nicole."

"Well yeah, but--"

"But, nothing. I'd rather be bruised all over my body and still be alive while having you by my side, then be healthy and not have you here at all."

"No, don't say that."

"The point is Nicole, I'm okay, I am. I will have nightmares and wake up screaming, I will carve my palms with my nails, I will be not be okay sometimes, but overall? I'm living. I'm living and so are you and that's all that matters. How were you supposed to know that William would escape jail?"

Nicole assumed it was a rhetorical question so she didn't respond, but Waverly signified that she really wanted her to answer.

"Well, I couldn't have," she replied hesitantly.

"Exactly. No one fucking knew. So, Nicole. I need you right now to tell me that you will no longer blame yourself no matter how much you see that I'm struggling."

Nicole looked into Waverly's eyes who weren't filled with hatred, anger, or disgust, like she expected but love, understanding, and care. How could she go around blaming herself when the one that should be blaming her showed nothing, but love?

The truth dawned uponed her and a weight was lifted off her chest.

She lunged forward and hugged Waverly tightly, "I won't, Waverly. I promise you this time." She tucked her head in between Waverly's neck and let out silent tears.

Waverly could see in her eyes, before she hugged her, that she was being serious this time, but she needed to do one more thing. She pulled apart from Nicole and said, "I need you to say it, Nicole. 'This is not my fault.'"

Nicole nodded and firmly stated, "This is not my fault." And for once, she actually believed it.  
\------------------  
William Yates had been in hiding for a while ever since he had killed Nicole's precious girlfriend. Unfortunately, he had not been satisfied by the kill. He needed the revenge on the Lieutenant specifically. He told himself that the tall girl was just collateral damage.

But for now, Nicole's pain and heartache will have to do. He needed to see exactly how the woman was doing, though. He needed to see her walking down the sidewalk with a faraway look on her face, eyes red and puffy, head down and shoulders slumped.

He led out a shrilling laugh as he imagined how the Liutenant was, but immediately shut his mouth when he realized he could be heard by the people passing by.

Currently he was hiding behind some trash bin by the Purgatory station as he waited to see Nicole. It was a huge risk, but seeing Nicole would be worth it. He waited, taking peeks out into the sidewalk whenever he heard someone passing by, his heart skipping a beat.

He finally heard a familiar voice passing by, but she didn't sound as wrecked as he wished she did. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked out to see the passing lieutenant. But his face turned red, and both of his hand tightened into fists, and it took everything not to let out a scream of fury.

There walking pass him was Nicole Haught with a smile on her face and her pretty little girlfriend walked with her hand in hand.

He had _missed_? He didn't kill her. How had he not fucking killed her? He had never missed. He felt like he was losing his mind as the woman walked into the station, living life like he had never existed, like he had never once held power over them.

No, this was not good.  
\----------------  
Sometimes while Waverly and Nicole were out, Nicole would notice that her girlfriend would look around frantically at the people around them. Once she'd had a panic attack when a young man grabbed her shoulder as he apologized to her for bumping into her at the store.

She would always double check that the doors were locked and she'd give Nicole extra long kisses when she went to work as if afraid that she wouldn't come home.

Nicole wouldn't try to focus on the bad too much, though. Besides those moments, throughout the day, Waverly usually seemed completely alright. She'd go throughout her day like the accident with William had never occurred. She'd defintely been smiling and laughing more often then she did in the beginning.

She no longer had the clouded or distant look in her eyes. She could watch action movies again. She'd take all these occurrences as little wins, things that had to be celebrated.

She'd been seeing a psychologist and yesterday Waverly finally opened up to her. Let her know everything she was feeling and that she dreamt about William's eyes. It was hard not only for Waverly, but for Nicole too. But, they're still standing and that's all that matters, right?

It was the flowers that kept them going. _If something as delicate as them can do it, well then so can we_ , right? Waverly had told her that it was one of the most beautiful things she's ever read. Nicole had blushed madly because words had never been her strong suit, but Waverly made it easy.

Actually she loved it so much that she asked Nicole if she would go with her to get a tattoo of a flower of her wrist.

So, that's what they were doing now.

"I'm nervous."

"Babe, you'll be fine."

"I know, but it's gonna hurt!"

"Well, maybe, but it's not anything you can't handle."

"You were supposed to say, 'No, baby. It won't'"

"I don't know, though! I've never gotten a tattoo."

Waverly's eyes lightened up at her words, "Get one with me!"

"What? Oh, hell no."

"Why not?"

"Cause that shit will hurt!"

"Oh shut up, you big baby. I'm sure it'll be fine."

" _Fine_? You were literally just complaining about how nervous you were 5 seconds ago."

"You gotta learn to let go of the past, honey."

"Don't you honey me."

Waverly rolled her eyes. "C'mon! Haven't you ever wanted a tattoo?"

"I mean yeah, but..." Nicole trailed off, not wanting to admit the reason she wouldn't get the tattoo.

"But, what?"

"I'm afraid," Nicole mumbled.

Waverly heard her clearly, but she wanted to give the shorter girl a hard time. She held back her smirk. "What'd you say?"

"I'm afraid." She said a little more clearly, but Waverly wasn't satisfied.

"Just one more time?" She said in a false innocent voice.

"I'm afraid, okay!" Nicole said a little too loudly that everyone in the tattoo shop turned to look at her. She turned bright red at the attention.

Waverly laughed at her. "What happened to _I'm a detective, I fear nothing_ ," she said mockingly.

"I said _no one_ ," Nicole replied recalling theit conversation from the first night they met on the bridge.

"Whatever, the point is, since when do you let fear stop you? You're not afraid of chasing after bad guys, but you're scared a small needle?"

Nicole knew that Waverly had a point, "Alright, fine! I'll get a tattoo!"

"Yes!" Waverly exclaimed. "I knew I'd convince you."

"Now you have to help me decide what to get, though."

But Waverly was called by a tattoo artist who had just finished up with another customer.

"You ready?" Nicole asked. Waverly nodded, but Nicole could detect a bit of fear in her eyes. She intertwined their fingers in hopes that it would calm her down a bit.

15 minutes later, Waverly had a simple flower on her wrist and she was so satisfied that it made Nicole excited to get hers done. She knew exactly what she would get.

After the tattoo artist wrapped Waverly's tattoo and gave her some lotion to apply every few hours. Nicole sat herself on the chair next and quietly told the tattoo artist what to do. She then made Waverly wait somewhere else so that she couldn't see what he would do.

Waverly huffed, but walked away anyway.

After a while, Nicole showed up by the front desk where Waverly was waiting for her and and extended her arm for her girlfriend to see.

"A lightbulb?" Waverly said in confusion. It was a really cute tattoo, but why a lightbulb?

Nicole nodded. "You got a tatto related to my letter to you, so I figured why not do the same? But, it's perfect because I realized that when we had our talk, the one about me blaming myself, that I do that a lot. In your letter to me, you told me that I made you feel safe. That I lit up any area I walked into.

"For a long time, I thought I was the danger. When anything bad would happen around me, I would automatically blame myself. I thought I was darkness.

"But you reminded me that I'm not, that I'm light. And light represents safety, not danger. That's why I got the light bulb, as I reminder to myself that I am not some fucking darkness. And that's because of you, so thank you."

Waverly smiled in wonder, Nicole was too good for this world. Something she's always thought. She walked closer to her and put her hands on her shoulders. "You're the one who believed it, love. Thank yourself."

Nicole smiled widley in response. She gave the shorter girl a quick kiss and turned to pay the tattoo artist.  
\---------------  
"Will you go on a date me?"

Waverly turned to look at Nicole amused. "You ask as if you've only known me for half an hour."

Nicole smiles, "I'm serious."

Waverly giggles, "I'd love a date night."

"Great! Let's go then."

"What? Right now? I'm not even dressed."

"Your outfit's fine."

"Sweatpants and a hoodie is fine?"

"For this date, yes. Now, c'mon let's go!"

"How long have you been planning this?" Waverly asks intrigued.

"I start planning it yesterday. Now hurry your cute little butt into the car. Wynonna's getting impatient!"

"Wynonna? Ok now I'm really confused."

"Jesus, it's cold outside," Waverly says once she gets into Nicole's car.

"Don't worry, I got blankets in the trunk."

"So, this date is outdoors?"

"Damn it," Nicole whispers to herself. "Can you forget that I said that?"

Waverly's eyes twinkle with playfulness and says sure. They drive off to who knows where at 7pm at night. She couldn't help but feel excitement bubble in her stomach. She needed this, this lightheartness around them, the tension with everything that's going on with William gone.

Waverly furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed that Nicole was slowing down at the parking lot of a park. "What are we doing at a park?" she asks.

"You'll see in a minute. C'mon, give me hand with the blankets, yeah?"

Waverly helps Nicole with the blankets although she almost drops them when she sees what Nicole has set up. She lets out a gasp and then a small squeal of excitement when she takes it all in. "This is the most romantic and cutest shit ever."

"I take it you like it, then?"

"This is awesome Nicole. Straight out of a cheesy romance movie that everyone says is too cheesy, but in reality everyone wants."

Nicole laughs loudly as they walk towards where Wynonna and Doc are standing.

"I'm assuming you 2 helped set this up and then kept watch?"

"Yes, we did," Doc glared at Nicole as she shivered from the cold.

"You're such a baby, babe. C'mon, let's go get you warm," Wynonna winks at Doc.

"Oh, God," Waverly pretends to gag at the suggestive wink her sister gave her husband. "Not what I want to hear, big sis."

"I didn't say anything."

"No, just suggested it."

The married couple says goodbye to Waverly and Nicole after some hugs and they walk away hand in hand.

Waverly takes in the scene from up close. Nicole has set up blankets on the floor along with a lot of pillows and some snacks lying about. She's not sure if this is even legal, but there's a projector screen hung onto a big tree and the projector on the floor towards the center of the end of the blankets. Finally, there are a few small lamps that are providing them with light around them.

Waverly turns to Nicole and sighs happily, "Thank you for doing this. I can't tell you how much it means."

"Nothing's too good for you, my love."

Waverly's stomach implodes with butterflies at the words. She looks down, but Nicole grabs her chin and brings it up. "Don't hide your gorgeous face."

Waverly smiles at her brightly.

"Let's sit?" Nicole asks.

Waverly nods excitingly and Nicole goes to put the first movie on.

"What are we watching?" She questions.

"Mr. Peabody and Sherman to fulfill your nerdy history needs."

"Fuck yesss," Waverly says. "Best kid's movie ever."

"I don't want to argue tonight, so I'll just agree."

"I love you," Waverly says sincerely after giggling at the comment.

"And I love you," Nicole says leaning in to give her girlfriend a kiss. "Now, get closer to me and keep me warm."

"Yes, ma'am," Waverly salutes mockingly.

Waverly cuddles up next to Nicole and lays her head on her arm. Waverly grabs the blankets and throws it over them to stay warm in the cool night. Mr. Peabody and Sherman plays and ends, as well as The Incredibles and Mulan.

Once the movies and snacks are done Waverly asks Nicole why they only watched children's movies.

"You and I have gone through something most couples have never gone through. I thought tonight we could just enjoy something lighthearted and entertaining. No mutants, or guns, or stupid comedy. Just innocence. We needed the small break, an escape from all the shit the world has handed us."

Waverly looks at Nicole appreciately. "Well, this date was amazing, Nicole. Thanks again, I mean it. You're so thoughtful and just so goddamn perfect."

"Yeah, that's true."

Waverly just slaps her playfully before asking, "So...do we have to clean this up?"  
\---------------  
William paced back and forth on the dead grass, where no one was around. He understood now that it was not meant to be. Killing the short woman was never in fate's plan, that's why he missed. He'd failed capturing her the first time too, so he just had to give up. He knew that whatever he did, Haught's girlfriend was meant to live for longer.

He stopped in his tracks and made the decision: It was time to just go after the Lieutenant herself. He felt a small spark of anger because that was his plan all along until he was stupid enough to change it just to cause more pain.

But, he had to let it go. He couldn't dwell on the past right now. Not when there was so much to plan. He felt excitement bubble up within him once again as he starting coming up with hundreds of different ways he would finally get rid of Nicole Haught for once and for all.  
\---------------  
"HA! I got you!"

Nicole glared at Waverly from the corner of her bedroom wall where she hid from her girlfriend. Waverly was around the corner of their short hallway.

She was a cop for crying out loud. She refused to lose this NERF war. Waverly who had loved the movie date, decided that they needed more moments like it. More childish moments where they could just have some fun and forget all the shit in the world.

Nicole bent down and crawled to where Waverly was currently standing. Waverly wasn't facing her anymore, but she knew that her back was on the wall and that she was thinking about where to hide next.

Her girlfriend would make a terrible cop, she was too predictable.

Nicole stood up and put her back to the wall on the other side of the corner wall as quietly as she could possibly be. She was sure that Waverly hadn't heard her, but when she turns her head to peek around the corner, her girlfriend is nowhere to be seen.

"What the--" Nicole starts in confusion.

But she's interrupted by her girlfriend's head popping up from behind the couch as she screams, "Over here, sucker!" And she shoots her toy gun at Nicole, firing the last of her bullets, who's standing in shock.

"I won, bitches!" She yells to the non-existing audience as she stand up fully.

Nicole glares at her, but can't stop the smile that sneaks it's way onto her face.

"There's no one there crazy lady."

"Who cares? I beat the lieutenant, it's a moment to be celebrated by the imaginary audience."

Nicole rolls her eyes jokingly, "Whatever, I let you win."

"Right and I don't ship sanvers."

Nicole laughs loudly, knowing full well that Waverly shipped sanvers harder than anyone she knew. Xavier, Wynonna, and the rest of their little group had all watched Supergirl together in the course of 3 days when it came out on Netflix, but Waverly was the die-hard sanvers fan.

Nicole throws her hands up, "Fine. You beat me fair and square. I admit. You have lost to an officer of Purgatory."

"That's right, babe."

"You're not going to let this go all week, are you?"

Waverly shakes her head as she walks up to her girlfriend, "Hell no. In fact, I think I deserve a reward," she says suggestively.

Nicole raises an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? And what's that?"

Waverly responds by making her way to their bedroom while moving her hips in a slower manner than usual.

"This girl's going to be the death of me," Nicole whispers to herself as her girlfriend disappears in their room.  
\---------------  
Nicole figured that if William Yates would be anywhere, he'd be staying at an abandoned warehouse. It's perfect because who would suspect that he would go to a place that's so obvious? Especially the place he was almost caught, the place Waverly was shot. Even though it's been 5 months, anger would still spark up when she thought about him.

5 months and they havdn't been able to find the serial killer. It angered her not only because of what he did to Waverly, but because he had gone back to his own killing spree. He hadn't done it as much as he used to anymore, 3 a month. He'd only killed 3 woman the past months, but still. It was 3 women too much.

They had searched all the warehouses already, but when Nicole suggested to her captain that they check them again, he just shrugged her off. Said it was a waste of time. She understood, but that didn't mean that it would stop her from searching herself.

Was it reckless and dangerous? Yes. Could she be caught and have her badge removed? Yes. Did she care?

That's the thing, she did. But, she couldn't _not_ do anything. He was crazy as shit and out there killing random women, it was fucked up and she just had to find him.

She was going to find him if it was the last thing she did, which is why she'd been driving around National City searching abandoned warehouses for the past 3 hours.

Curerently, she's standing in front of the warehouse where she found Waverly tied up to a chair as a pool of blood was being formed underneath her. She sighs deeply before stepping inside.

She swore that he was going to be there on the 3rd floor, that she'd finally bring in the killer once again. But after checking every floor, she has no luck with finding Yates.

She leaves the place, making a pact to herself that she wouldn't give up until the man was dead, not only for what he did to Waverly, but for what he did to those other 18 women the 6 months that he was living out the 'the thrill of the kill' and for the 3 that he'd killed the past 5 months.

She drives back to her apartment where Waverly should be home from work now. Waverly had been so excited to get back to work after everything. She was now teaching first grade, and Blake was in her class. Nicole assumes that she'll always have a soft spot for the little girl. It warmed her heart. It also broke though when Waverly told her that Blake looks healthy and happy, but would sometimes notice a vacancy in her eyes that no child should ever have. Waverly knew she missed her family, even though they didn't treat her like she was their daughter. She was too young to understand.

Nicole shakes the thoughts about the girl when enters their apartment. She's immediately interrogated by her girlfriend.

"Where have you been?" Waverly asks with a strict seriousness Nicole rarely hears directed at her.

"I was at work." Nicole lies smoothly.

"No, you weren't."

"What makes you say that?" Nicole says annoyed.

"Because Xavier called me and asked if you were okay. When I told him that you were, he asked me why you decided to take the day off." She states.

"Fucking Dolls," Nicole whispers to herself, shaking her head.

"Nicole," Waverly says firmly. "Where were you?"

Nicole understood that she wouldn't be able to lie her way out of this one. She signs as she runs her hand through her hair and says, "I was looking for William Yates."

Waverly laughs incredulous, "You're kidding me, right?"

Nicole shakes her head looking down, afraid to look Waverly in the eye.

"Nicole, look at me," Waverly says no longer speaking in anger. Nicole looks up at her. "Come here." She pats the space next to her on the couch.

"I know why you're doing it," Waverly begins. "But Nicole, you know that William is dangerous. You can't run around being careless trying to find him for revenge, especially without any backup. You could be killed, for God's sake. I could lose you, don't you see that? I know that you're angry, but I can't bear losing you, so I'm begging you. _Please_ , don't go back out looking for him again," she stressed.

A wave of guilt poured over Nicole. She hadn't really thought about how Waverly was feeling.

"Okay, hey," she wrapped her arms around Waverly. "You're not going to lose me, Waverly. I promise. I've got no where to be except here with you, okay? I swear to you that I won't go back out to search for William. And I'm sorry too, for causing you to worry."

Waverly looked at her for sometime before accepting that her girlfriend was telling the truth. And Nicole was. She wouldn't go out there anymore.

Waverly nodded indicating that she forgave her. "It's okay. Just don't lie to me again, okay? You know you can talk to me about anything you're feeling.

"Yeah I know, babe. And that's why I love you."

Waverly's heart fluttered. She never tired of hearing those 3 words come out of her girlfriend's mouth. "I love you, too" she said.

After some time, Nicole told Waverly what she done while searching for William knowing that despite the fact that she was angry, she was also curious.  
\---------------  
2 days later, William is staring down at the 2 women having coffee from the top of the building across the street. It was perfect. They were both seated on one of the tables next to the glass window, so he could see everything. Luck was on his side today and he thought that he damn well deserved it. He'd failed twice and he wasn't going to fail a 3rd because third's time a charm right?

Nicole was sitting with her back to him and she had her hand stretched out across the table, her girlfriend's hand meeting her halfway. He couldn't see Nicole's face, but he assumed that she was smiling because Waverly (Yes he knew her name now after hearing all about it on the news) was smiling too. If William would've look closer though he would've seen that something was a bit off, their wasn't a congruency between Waverly's eyes and smile, but he was so focused on what he was going to do, he ignored the small detail.

William couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous of their relationship. He was 21 and he'd never even kissed a girl. He was a still a virgin, too and he wondered what it would be like to have sex with Nicole's girlfriend.

He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts for he had to keep his mind focused on the task.

He started mumbling words of encouragement to himself as he stood the sniper upright on the edge of the building. He looked through the scope and aimed it at Lieutenant Haught's head. He simply stared for a few minutes trying to steady his breath and heartbeat, making sure that his hand stopped sweating and shaking, and he disabled the safety and took a deep breath.

Down below, the people walking around minding their own business started yelling and running chaotically as a shot was heard through the air.


	11. Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is guys... the final chapter!
> 
> Happy reading :-)
> 
> P.S. Guys I came out to my parents earlier this week and all is good!!!

"Moms!"

"Oh God, here she goes again."

"I mean we did promise her that we'd tell her when she turned 16."

"I know, but couldn't she wait until later? I mean it's barely 8 in the morning."

"Well, I guess she's just..." but Waverly trails off when she sees their daughter standing by the doorway of their bedroom door. She smiles widely at the expectant face their daughter gives them, a face she started copying from Nicole when she was 10 whenever she wanted something.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart!" Waverly says.

"Yeah, happy birthday, Blake!" Nicole smiles. "Come over here so I can give you a bear hug."

The newly aged 16-year-old rolls her eyes at the words that come out of her mom's mouth, but a small smile still makes it's way onto her face when she says, "Your bear hugs hurt me."

"Oh please, don't deny that you love them," replies Nicole. She squeezed Blake tightly when she got near. "Join the love, babe," she says to her wife.

"With pleasure," Waverly says as she throws herself onto her wife and daughter and brings them down onto the bed with her.

"Can't. Breathe." Blake manages to breathe out.

"Oh please. Stop being so dramatic," Waverly says.

When they separate, Blake sits herself on their bed Indian style. Both Waverly and Nicole turn to look at each other with watery eyes and small smiles, both thinking the same thing. They couldn't believe that their little girl was 16 already. They couldn't believe that it had already been 9 years since they adopted her a year and a half into their marriage. They could remember it like it was yesterday.

_"Blake we have some good news," Nicole said to Blake._

_Blake was glad when the people in the suits took her into her new home 6 months ago. She liked her other foster parents, they were nice, but they just weren't right. She knew that they cared for her, but they didn't love her the way a mom and dad should love their kid._

_She still wasn't sure why the people in the suits had taken her to a different house and why the police had taken her parents to jail. Her parents had never done anything wrong. Sure they beat her sometimes, but she it was because they had loved her. Right? No. Wrong. Her foster parents told her that parents shouldn't treat their kids that way._

_She believed them because it really hurt when they hit her. Sometimes she would bleed or she would hear a crack and it hurt a lot. She didn't like it, but they were her parents. She was supposed to love them._

_But, the love she felt for her parents or her old foster parents had never been as vast as the love for her foster moms. She was confused when she saw her 1st grade teacher (she was in 2nd grade now) when she walked into the new house, but she was also happy to see her. Miss Earp was her favorite teacher. Her new teacher wasn't as nice as her._

_When Miss Earp told her that her and her wife, Nicole, were going to be her new foster moms, she didn't know how or why, but she knew that this time it would be different._

_And it had been. They loved her and she loved them back. She'd never felt so much love for them than right now, though._

_"We just adopted you, love," Waverly said softly._

_Happiness imploded within her as the words that came out of her foster mom-- no her_ mom _. They had taken her to the court place earlier and the nice, but scary-looking judge had asked her a lot of questions about her foster moms, but she didn't know why. Now she knew._

_"Really?" She whispered, as if saying it louder would make it untrue._

_"Yes really, honey," Waverly said bending down to her daughter's height. Her_ daughter _._

_Blake furrowed her eyebrows and moved her hands to her mom's face to wipe away the tears that were streaming down. She titled her head as she asked, "Why are you crying?"_

_Waverly let out a sob at the innocence her 7-year-old held. "They're happy tears, Blake. Because you're our daughter now." Waverly looked up at Nicole and grabbed her hand, smiling and tugging her down._

_"I am?"_

_"You are," Nicole confirmed, also crying._

_"Forever?"_

_Both women looked at each other and back at Blake, "Forever."_

_At that single word, Blake broke down crying in sobs as she lunged forward to hug her new moms._

Both women were broken out of their trance when their daughter speaks.

"Can you guys tell me the story, yet?"

"Sorry Blake, but everyone else wants to hear it again, so we have to wait for them to get here," says Nicole.

Blake groans. "They've already heard the story of William Yates. They lived it with you guys!"

"Technically, they didn't go through everything with us," Nicole responds.

"You know what I mean, mama," she replied.

"Sorry, Blake. You're going to have to wait. But, they'll be here in a few hours, so go get ready!" Waverly tells her daughter.

Blake obeys and walks back to her room to get ready for the day.

"You know, we also promised her we'd teach her how to drive this year, right?" Waverly reminds the taller woman.

They stare at each other for a few intense moments before they both yell, "Not it!" Unfortunately, Waverly was slower to say it than her wife.

She cursed under her breath before throwing her head back on her pillow. She sighed half happily, half sadly. "16 today. It's crazy isn't it? How fast time flies by."

Waverly cuddles up to Nicole's side and lays her head on her chest. "Absolutely crazy," Nicole responds after a few seconds.

Waverly grabs her left hand which is thrown over her waist and starts playing with ring on her left hand, a habit she'd picked up after they got married whenever they were close. Nicole smiles softly at the memory of their wedding day.

_"I love you," Waverly whispered into Nicole's ear as they slow danced across the floor. Her arms were entangled behind her neck and Nicole's arms were around her waist._

_"Well, I hope so. We did just get married."_

_Waverly giggled softly. She hadn't felt this ecstatic in a long time. She was slow dancing with her wife. Her_ wife _. She felt whole, she like she was home. Whevever they went, she was home as long as Nicole was around._

_Nicole felt the same way. Thinking back to the night her and Waverly met, she couldn't believe that she was engaged to someone else, someone who wasn't Waverly. It was hard to fathom. Waverly brings her more joy than anyone else in the world ever could. She's forever grateful to Fate for bringing them together._

_"I'm glad we're done with all the pre-wedding stuff, I have to admit. How many arguments did we have?"_

_"Too much," Nicole groaned. "Thinking back they all seem so ridiculous."_

_"Don't they?" Waverly exclaimed with soft laughter._

_Waverly lay her forhead on her wife's. "You're my wife now."_

_"That I am, pretty girl. Forever."_

_"Forever..._ _Does that scare you?" Waverly asked after a second thought._

_Nicole thought about it for a while. She'd been scared, once upon a time, that Waverly would break her heart. Which resulted in her breaking Waverly's. It was first time she got drunk. She was terrified of the power that Waverly held over her heart. But in this moment, as she gets lost in Waverly eyes, she feels safer than she's ever felt before._

_"No. It doesn't," Nicole finally breathes out._

_"Can I jump in?" Jack asks suddenly._

_"By all means, Mr. Haught," Waverly says._

_"C'mon, how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Jack. How would you like it if I called you Mrs. Haught-Earp?"_

_"I'd feel old," Waverly says, but her heart still flutters at her new name._

_"My point exaclty," Jack concluded as he started dancing with his daughter._

_Waverly herself starts dancing with Wynonna. "I'm happy for you sis, I'm glad that you found your soulmate."_

_Waverly sighs happyily. "Me too. I just wish mom and dad felt the same."_

_"Me too, Waverly. But, we've got each other till' the end."_

_"Hell yeah, no one beats the Earp sisters."_

A few hours later, once the gang had arrived, everyone was seated in the living room waiting for the married couple to begin the story.

"Alright, no more stalling, moms. Story time!"

Waverly laughed at her daughter. "Alright, alright. You can start, Nicole."

A few hours later, once the gang had arrived, everyone was seated in the living room waiting for the married couple to begin.

"Well, I want to start with how I first met your mom on a bridge late at night, but I think I should start from the beginning. I was sitting hidden away on the worn out orange couch in the corner of a coffee shop, which proclaimed to have the best coffee in the world....."

Nicole and Waverly both continued the story and stopped right before the good part.

"What happened next?" Blake asked. She'd been waiting to hear this story for a long time. She knows that she could've looked it up and read about it on Google or something, but she wanted to hear it straight from her moms and get all the details no one else knew about.

"Stop with the dramatic pause," Doc said. "Just tell the young lady."

Waverly giggled at the her daughter's impatience. She looked at her wife, and said "You can explain the rest."

"Well, a few weeks after we saved your mom," she said directly at Blake, "I was getting impatient. The department hadn't found anything on Yates, and it was not only frustrating, but scary. I mean, we never knew when he was going to pop out and attack again. So, naturally... I went searching for him myself."

"Mama! Why the hell would you do that? That's dangerous!" Her daughter glared at her the same way Waverly had glared at her.

"Hey, language," Waverly warned.

"Ahh, let the girl be," said Wynonna. Waverly glared at her, too.

"Sorry," her daughter mumbled sheepishly. "Continue."

"I went back to the place where William kept your mom," continued Nicole. "We'd already searched there, but I figured he would go back eventually. Especially because it's a place no one would suspect him to go. Unfortunately, when I searched the place I didn't find him..."

"But?" Her daughter asks anxiously.

" _But_ I may or may not have found his plan. Apparently, he was a planner."

"Hey, just like you, mom!"

Waverly rolls her eyes kiddingly. "Yes, just like me. Will you let your mama go on?"

"Yes! Sorry."

Nicole chuckles before continuing. "I found that he was staying on the 3rd floor, the same floor where we found your mother." She stopped for a second remembering the horrible scene that sometimes haunted her dreams. She felt Waverly grab her hand supportively.

"On the floor he had written down in big words 'KILL THE LIEUTENANT'. It looked like he'd written it in his own blood, later we found a log cut on his forearm. He was an idiot for thinking no one would go back to search for him.

"Anyway, he also had an address written down in Sharpie right next to the words. Obviously, I looked up the address on my phone. It was a place that sold guns-- snipers specifically. He also had a date written out: July 8. I figured that was the date he was planning on killing me," she said casually.

"Later we found out that he'd chosen that day because it was his parents anniversary and well, as I explained, he was very thankful for his parents because they made him the way he was. I guess he thought it a way to honor them." She rolled her eyes again, this time seriously.

"I put the pieces together. I knew that on that day he'd follow Waverly and I wherever we went. He wouldn't go to our home because he'd already done that. I knew that he would want something different."

"So, your mom and I decided to trick him," Waverly jumped in.

"How?" Blake questioned with a tilt of her head.

"Like your mom said, we knew that he'd be following us again," shared Waverly. "Since your mama found out that William would go after her 2 days before the 8th, on the 7th we went out together. Before I dropped her off at work, walking, we hoped that he was listening from somewhere and I said to her, 'Want to go out for a bite tomorrow at 2 during your lunch break? I'll pick you up.' And I told her where we'd eat."

"Yeah, we knew he'd fall for the bait and go the place we'd said we meet," Nicole said.

"Why didn't you just choose to stay home?"

"Because, Blake, we had to catch him. We couldn't hide away forever." Blake nodded in understanding.

"This is where it gets genius," Xavier came in.

"Why? What'd you do?" Blake looks back and forth excitedly between her moms.

"I had an old friend, Hanna," Nicole explained. "We were about the same height, and though we look nothing alike, we did from the back. We have the same colored hair and style of it. People always confused us. Luckily for me, she was also a cop in a nearby city. I don't think she would've helped me if she weren't."

"Why not?" Blake asked.

"Because I asked her to do something dangerous. I asked her to pretend to be me."

"You did _what_?" Blake exclaimed.

"Well, I needed to be where William would be, in order to catch him. I needed Hannah to pretend to be me while I was near him. Considering he'd bought a sniper, I knew that he wouldn't be close. You could see clearly from the roof of the building across the street. I knew that that's where William would be.

"Me, Waverly, and Hannah all arrived to the coffe shop 2 hours earlier. I made Hannah and Waverly sit by the window, with Hannah's back facing the glass window.

"After I left them, I walked to the building and made my way to the roof where I waited for William to arrive. I hid behind the door entrance wall."

"At precisely 2 o' clock," Waverly jumped in again, "I saw William from the corner of my eyes on the roof...with a sniper. I almost had a heart attack," she said remembering the moment. "I almost ran out and yelled for him to stop, to kill me instead."

Nicole smiles at her sadly before speaking again. "Once I heard him setting up the sniper, I crawled out from behind the wall as quietly as possible. When I heard him turn off the safety and get ready to shoot, I ran to him, with light steps obviously and I-- well, I shot him."

"You _killed_ him?"

"What?" Nicole asked, "No! The bastard's still alive, I mean I _almost_ killed him..." she added quietly, "but what matters is that I didn't."

Waverly blanked out for a second and thought back to the day they captured William Yates.

_"Don't worry, Waverly," Hannah said as she tried to comfort her friend's girlfriend. "Nicole's one of the greatest cops out there. She'll be okay."_

_But, her words went unheard. She could see the worry in her eyes. "Hey, Waverly," she snapped in front of her eyes._

_"What? Sorry. Did you say something?"_

_"We're going to get him, okay?"_

_"Okay," Waverly said shakily._

_"Grab my hand. It'll make it look more real."_

_Waverly just nodded in repsonse and held out her hand to Hannah. She plastered a fake smile on her face just in case William looked over. She could see him now, looking through the sniper and she did her best to not look directly at him. She tried her best to not go out there and ruin the plan._

_After a couple of minutes, her heart drops to her stomach as she hears a shot through the air. She got up instantly, ignoring Hannah's yells, and stands on the sidewalk beside the coffee shop as she looks up to the roof._

_"Oh my God," she whispers in relief when Nicole looks over at her with a grand smile on her face. A smile that said, I got him, babe. I'm not going anywhere._

Nicole pulls her out of the memory when she wraps an arm around her and says, "Where'd you go, pretty girl?"

"Nowhere, I'm okay," she replies. And she is okay. She's sitting down next to her wife and she's okay. Nicole gives her a warm smile.

"Holy shit," Blake said.

The couple both snap their heads over to their daughter and say, "Language!" 

"Sorry. So, you figured out his plan and used it against him?" Waverly nodded. "And where is he now? And how come you didn't get fired?" She ends while looking over at Nicole.

"He's now at a maximum security prison up in Colorado," Xavier responded as he put an arm around his wife. "The Captain here made sure she found only the best for him," he nodded over at Nicole. She had gotten promoted to Captain just 2 months ago after Beau Smith decided it was time to retire.

"And I didn't get fired, but I _did_ get suspended for a while, actually. They decided to forgive my stupidity because I'm a great cop, not to sound too proud. Plus, I caught the bad guy when they couldn't."

After a minute of Blake trying to process all of the information that was just shared with her, she finally breathed out, "Dang. My moms are badass!"

"Hell yeah, we are!" Waverly exclaimed.

"Alright, don't get too excited mom."

"Ha-ha."

"Alright!" Nicole says as she stands up. "Who's ready for cake?"

But she hears a knock on the door before she can go to the kitchen. "Babe, will you take out the cake for me please? I think it's my dad."

Waverly nodded and made her way to the kitchen with her friends who had all cheered for the idea of cake.

Nicole open the door and sure enough it's her dad with his wife of 3 years. He looks so much younger now and he had a light in his eyes that Nicole hasn't seen since her mom had died. She was so happy for his happiness.

"Hey, dad! Hi, Sunny!" She gives them both a hug. "Come in, you love birds."

Sunny giggles and gives her husband a kiss on the cheek before walking to the kitchen to greet the others.

"Did I miss the story?" Asks Jack.

Nicole looks at him apologetically, "Yes, you did."

"Aw, damn it," her dad says, "Despite how terrible it was, it's an inspiring story. What you 2 went through, I mean, you're both so strong. Look where you are now, not only married but with a child! Or should I say teenager."

Nicole groans, "Don't remind me."

"Now you get the statement _you grew up so fast_ , don't you?" Her father chuckles.

"Unfortunately, I do." Nicole responds as they walk to the table together.

"Your mother would be so proud of you, Nicky. You know that?"

Her heart swells with pride, "Thank you, dad. She would be proud of you too, you know?" Jack just smiles at her in response.

Most rehab centers had programs that lasted 90 days, but her dad had stayed for an extra 3 months. He needed to be his best possible self again not only for Nicole, but because it's what his wife would've wanted. Throughout those 6 months though, Jack had no idea what was going on with his daughter and her girlfriend. Once he came back a month after everything had happened and Yates was in prison, Nicole had no choice but to tell her father everything that they'd gone through. Let's just say that he did not take it lightly.

But, in the end he was just glad that Nicole and Waverly were safe.

Nicole walks up to Waverly who's putting a single candle on the cake and they all start singing _Happy Birthday_ to Blake.

The song ends and Nicole stands behind looking at all of her friends-- no her _family_. She doesn't even realize when Waverly walks up next to her.

"Are you okay, love?"

"I'm the best I've ever been." She looks over at Waverly, the love of her life and wonders how she ever got so lucky to be with a woman like her. She hold's her face with the palm of her hand. "It's crazy, right?"

"What is?" Waverly asks leaning into her touch and closing her eyes for a second as she relishes in the warmth she'll never grow tired of.

"How 2 strangers can end up together and help create this family, this support, this everlasting and abundant love."

"Hmm..." Waverly thinks for a second. "I know. I couldn't be happier to have you in my life, Nicole." She holds up her cup of Pepsi and quietly says to her, "To strangers turned into lovers."

Nicole smiles widely up at her and bumps her own cup with Waverly's. "To strangers turned into lovers."  
\---------------------------------------------  
Hey guys, so that's the end of the story!! HOWEVER, I've always loved knowing where an author gets their ideas so I figured maybe one of you guys are interested in where I came with some of this stuff. So, I decided to write:

8 FACTS OF S.T.I.L

1\. I myself made a promise to myself when I was about 7 years old that I would never drink, 12 years later I've kept that promise. I wanted to have Nicole do the same

2\. Harry Potter and X-men movies are my favorite series, which is why I mentioned them both specifically

3\. The flowers thing in the letter is actually something I wrote for myself about a month ago. I hadn't intended on sharing it with anyone, but I thought it was perfect for the story

4\. William Yates' name comes from 2 different SVU criminal's that I despise. William Lewis and Gregory Yates. (Just thinking about them makes me want to punch them in the face.)

5\. The shooting in McDonald's where Nicole's mom died is based on the real life mass shooting that happened here in San Diego in 1984 at McDonald's. 21 people were killed that day and 19 were injured. In the high school I attended, one of the teacher's brothers were killed in the shooting and idk why I thought about including it, but I did.

6\. The bit where Nicole ensures Waverly that it's okay to be gay was actually me writing to myself and anyone else who needed the reassurance that their sexuality is 100% okay

7\. Nicole's ex Elise is Elise Bauman and the best friend Danny, the one Elise cheated with, was Danny from Carmilla

8\. Most of the time that I'd leave a chapter on a cliff hanger I had no fucking idea what to write next LOL

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey, for the comments, and kudos. I've got more stuff in store for you all though, so keep an eye out. I had fun with this and I don't plan on stopping any time soon :-)


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